Tale of a Thieving Hussy
by kiz 2point0
Summary: When thrown in prison, Jak meets up with someone. CHAP 10 UP!
1. Default Chapter

Yay, redable now!  
  
First I will ask you to go easy on me because this is my first fic, and English is my second language, but hopefully you won't notice (too much). I think that about now I have lowered your expectations of this story to a complete minimum, but then it will only be better than you expected. Ain't I just confident?  
  
----- Setting: We are in Jak 2, after Jak gets arrested and thrown in prison. That should cover it; at least for now.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Jak 2 or any persons in it; I just use them, [insert evil laughter]. Oh, just forgot Emaly's mine, so is Sidric.  
  
I'm not really sure how to rate this story, but it contains drug-references (this chapter), and it might get worse (or what to call it) over time. That should be about it, if I missed out on anything, fell free to contact me. Here goes:  
  
The Thieving Hussy  
  
Waiting in the cell for her punishment another person was thrown in beside her. It was a middle height, blue-eyed, blond boy. When he recovered from the fall and looked up at his (for the time being) cellmate with an expressionless face and blank eyes.  
  
She knew that look, all people who had just lost their belief in all good values. "Welcome to Sandover City, the home of the helpless, the land of the lawless.", she thought to herself.  
  
"Soo, what are you in for?", the girl in front of him said to start a conversation.  
  
"Where am I?", his voice was nothing but a low whisper and meant for himself.  
  
"Sandover", it was like he didn't notice her until now.  
  
"SANDOVER?"  
  
"Don't tell me you don't know what Sandover City is."  
  
"This can't be Sandover Village! This is big and ugly and smelly and." his voice lowered as he began to realize.  
  
"Sandovers's been like this since. forever!" She said trying. Wondering. This boy was special. She began to wonder where he was from if he wasn't from Sandover. It was nearly the only protected city; the only place free of metalheads.  
  
"Not the Sandover I know."  
  
"What's your name by the way? I'm Emaly"  
  
"Jak" (A/N: As if you didn't know by now)  
  
Their conversation was abruptly cut off by a prisonguard.  
  
"UP! You lazy dogs!", he opened the celldoor, and two other guards seized a firm grip around each of the two's arms. They were led to a big room with around 40 other prisoners in it. The guards made them form a line along one of the walls.  
  
A door opened and a man stepped in surrounded by armed guards. He walked across the room eyeing the prisoners. He looked like he could be in charge. Behind him was a skinny, sneaky-looking man with a large book. That very same book as she got listed in before she was thrown in the cell.  
  
He walked along the line of prisoners as he flipped the pages of the heavy book. He was actually looking pleased with the situation. When he had found the right page he began talking, still wandering along the line, his piercing eyes measuring every body he passed:  
  
"As some of you might have heard rumors of, our prisons are full.", he took a heavy breath and his mouth formed a sadistic smile.  
  
"This means we won't have room for anymore prisoners", he was obviously enjoying this,  
  
"This means you will be eliminated", This took the prisoners totally by surprice.  
  
"But", he continued,  
  
"if we find some of you. appropriate. for some. experiments. we are doing these days, you might just be able to. let's say, slip around that little. fact". By this time his eyes were filled with a mean gleam.  
  
"Get on with it already. Next time, do it a little faster Sidric", the man in charge was obviously getting tired of all the talking.  
  
The others were just scared of the man named Sidric. Both men walked to one end of the line, Sidric began reading from his book, that contained information about the crimes, names ect. While the other examined the person in question.  
  
Sidric: "Linda Jharric, caught drugdealing this morn."  
  
"I told you, no drugdealers, drugdo'ers or people with too dark skin. It's impossible to get to their veins."  
  
This completely freaked out Emaly. What were they going to do to them? Next thing she knew the two men were standing right in front of her.  
  
"Emaly Lenkaty, pickpocketing. We've been after her for a while now, but she always seems to slip away", the other man pulled out her arm and looked very pleased  
  
"Ah, thin skin this will be a delight to work with. If she turns out to be right", Emaly gulped. She would rather have died right away than to be experimented on. It would be hell in life as well.  
  
Turns out right; what did he mean by that? She didn't dare imagine.  
  
Along with her was also the strange boy, 'Jak', as "today's catch" as Sidric put it.  
  
After spending 20 hour together in a small, cold cell the two got to know each other better, despite Jak's quiet nature. Now the question was: What was going to happen to them?  
  
They were soon to find out, as they were lead into a big, round room with machines and devices along the wall leaving a lot of free space in the centre.  
  
With them was Sidric, and of course a horde of armed guards.  
  
"Coward", she thought to herself, wondering if he could fight at all since he was so heavily guarded. Along with the thought came a little smile on her lips.  
  
"After I'm done with you princess, you won't be smiling for a long, long time"  
  
If she wasn't scared before, she definitely was now. She looked over at Jak, who just stood motionless, with a blank stare. She could tell what he was thinking. And indeed this was going to be far worse than any nightmare any of the two had ever had.  
  
Before the two was set a large cluster of blue eco. For about five minutes there was no sound, except for the silent crackles of the eco. Then Jak steeped forward to the eco, channelling it with ease, to the great joy of the scientist.  
  
Sidric gave Jak some commands and wrote down a lot of notes in a block. When the effect wore off Sidric presented another blue eco cluster to Emaly. Eyeing Sidric she walked up to the eco and slowly put out her slender fingers towards it.  
  
Her body absorbed the energy-cluster; it felt like adrenaline pumping through her entire system, sharpening all her senses and giving her rapid movements. Her body felt light and she didn't give heed to Sidrics commands, trying out the effect for her own curiosity.  
  
Along with that curiosity came a wonder about the possibility of stopping the eco's effect for a while. At that very moment the blue eco's effect on her stopped, but she still felt the energy inside her body, as if it was now stored someplace inside her. Sidric immediately stopped writing as her body turned to normal. He started staring at her.  
  
"How is that possible? She was fully charged up with the eco, not just a little affected by it. She couldn't have used it up by now. It's not possible unless. she consumed it!"  
  
His line of thoughts were abrupted by Emaly as she gave up some little "hiing", "haarg" and "iii"-sounds as she was concentrating very hard. She was searching through her body for the energy hidden inside.  
  
After a few moments of intense search she managed to locate the energy and release it. At that very moment she blue sparkles again covered her skin, and she felt the eco rush through her body a second time. This caused Sidric to drop the block on the floor; he had never seen anything like it!  
  
-------------------  
  
Soo, what will happen to Sidric's new guinea pigs? What kind of experiments will he put them through and what effect will it have on them?  
  
--------------------  
  
Did you like it? Hate it? Eat everything I said raw? Though so, but to be sure - leave a review, please? 'Cause if you do, you'll make my day! Consider it the good deed of the day if you like. OK, enough begging.  
  
-kiz 


	2. Pardoned to Hell

Honey, I'm ho-ome!  
  
And this time with a reading-friendly version (cough Phoe-chan, cough). I must say that it was readable on my computer, but that doesn't help, I know. But it was worth a try.  
  
Anyway, in this chapter we're getting to know Emaly's personality a bit more. And maybe, juust maybe, we're going to know what those experiments are.  
  
I'm desperately trying to get Emaly from taking over the storyline. So far she's unstoppable. It's just so much easier writing about her, because I created her, than it is to write about Jak, because frankly I don't know much about the new game and I'm trying hard not to write anything that does not tally with the storyline there. Phew, what a long sentence.  
  
Well, I have one fresh-baked chapter for you here. Next one will be in a little more than a week (if I'm quick) because I'll be outside civilisation (Ok then, the capital area) the next week or so.  
  
-----  
  
Chapter 2: Pardoned to Hell  
  
They weren't the only ones. There was a room full of them. Litteraly.  
  
24. There was also 24 people in the room the last time she counted. She gave Jak a look. Sleeping an uneasy sleep. How could he sleep at all?  
  
23. Where did the fat brunette go? Oh there. 24.  
  
It was as if part of her was asleep or just numb. Her body was restless, yet it felt heavy as a rock. Her intellectual and creative sides were nowhere to be found. 24. She couldn't relax, just for one second. Just sit there and stare.  
  
24. So instead of going nuts. she counted. 24. No, 25. Another man was thrown into the already crowded room. Recovering from the fall, he approached Emaly.  
  
"There's no room for you here." - 1 metre of free space on each side of her, and there was no room for him?  
  
"-But." He was truly puzzled at that statement.  
  
"Go away your. aura's disturbing" She kept her blank stare at the room.  
  
"You can't take up all that space. ALONE!"  
  
"Watch me"  
  
"Oh, yeah? Then watch _me_ throw _you_ away!"  
  
"As if"  
  
"You won't be so tough when I'm through with you"  
  
"Well you won't be anything if you come just one step closer", at this point she was looking directly into his eyes, giving him a death-glare.  
  
Step.  
  
She rose from her seat.  
  
Another step. He was now standing 5 cm from her, looking down on her indifferent eyes.  
  
"And this is supposed to what. scare me?"  
  
He was 2 metres tall and well-build, but a knee in you-know-where and a fist in the stomach stopped him like it had stopped any other bloke trying to stop her from doing what she wanted to.  
  
"Convinced, or do you want more?"  
  
Yet again she ruled the bench. 25.  
  
Some 5 hours later (of course after reassuring that there now indeed was 25 people in the room for the 5974'th time) a guard fetched one of the prisoners, a skinny boy with large brown eyes.  
  
An hour later they took away one more.  
  
Her mind was beginning to wake up and wonder where they took them, and why.  
  
Then she remembered.  
  
The experiments.  
  
No, this isn't true  
  
No, it can't be  
  
"NOOOOOOO!" A set of strong arms grabbed her and took her out of the room.  
  
---  
  
A chill went down his spine when hearing her loud cry for help. "Where is the off-button?" he silently muttered to himself.  
  
He realized _who_ it was that was being dragged away. He then realized that she was being _dragged away_. This left him alone. Alone with the other 20- something people in the room.  
  
Time to wake up. He stretched his arm and yawned. Never sleep on the floor again. He could feel bruises forming all over his body because of the hard stone floor. Not to mention cold. But mostly hard. Where was he?  
  
Oh yeah that's right. Sandover City she called it. The future? Must be.  
  
His line of thoughts was interrupted by a guard calling him to his feet and dragging him out of the room. or cell. It was a cell, but a big one. Big enough to be classified as a room.  
  
Room it is then.  
  
---  
  
She was placed in a chair. Facing a man fastened on a table of some sort. He didn't move.  
  
Sidric was running around in the laboratory (the same round room as she and Jak got into to test their eco channelling abilities) doing all sorts of things. Adjusting a machine. Fastening the straps holding the man down. Sticking needles into his arms and legs and fastening them to the straps.  
  
Needles. With long pipe-wires running to a big machine next to him. Needles pierce your skin as if it was a dry leaf. She found them both intimidating and fascinating at the same time. Their ability was both healing and deadly at the same time.  
  
In the opposite side of the room a man was sitting in a chair. That was the man that had also been present when choosing the "victims" for this experiment.  
  
"Anaesthetized and ready to go.." Sidric opened a transparent glass bottle containing a glowing red substance. He had obviously managed to get eco liquefied.  
  
He poured it into the machine next to the unconscious man. Emaly could see the eco running through the pipe-wires and as it reached the man's body, he began shaking.  
  
Emaly was just stunned and couldn't move. She wouldn't have been able to move anyway, as she was strapped to the heavy chair she was seated in.  
  
It was as if the man lying unconscious on the table came to life just to suffer the pain the eco added. He screamed and twitched, trying hard to make the pain go away.  
  
Was he awake? She didn't think so. His eyes were open, but he didn't focus. So it was just sheer pain?  
  
"Hope they use a good anaestizer." She thought to herself. His body kept on twitching even though there was no more eco running to his body. When Sidric released the straps holding him down, he rolled on the floor. When a guard picked him up, he was still shaking and twitching.  
  
"He looks like he could survive. But I still suggest you to use a little less next time." The other man said, as Sidric was approaching Emaly while preparing a syringe.  
  
He continued: "So, baby. What's your favourite colour?"  
  
Sidric was wiping her skin clean with a wet cloth. She tried desperately to get her arm free, but nothing worked.  
  
"Fluorescing pink", she said with a dry voice, still focussing on the syringe in Sidric's hand.  
  
She felt her body getting heavy and her eyelids closing against her will. Just before she dozed off, she heard the voices talking  
  
"Which type are we going to use on her?"  
  
"I don't know, you choose"  
  
"I know it's the most expensive, but how about white?"  
  
"White it is then"  
  
She couldn't tell who was speaking when.  
  
White eco? She had heard about that before, somewhere. It was kind of rare, wasn't it?  
  
Darkness was getting hold of her. With a sigh she gave into it, knowing that nothing could be done to stop it.  
  
-----  
  
He recognized the room. It just seemed so unreal that this was reality. And those experiments, horrible. Eco in your veins? What's it going to do? Speed up your blood?  
  
"This one looks like he could become a real man someday." the bossy guy was obviously talking to him.  
  
"Hey!" That just amused him rather than making him apologize.  
  
The Sidric-person was standing next to him, syringe in hand.  
  
Bossy guy: "Judging his excellent ability to channel eco, I say let's give this one special treatment."  
  
"Oh yes, my lord" Sidric was getting so excited that he forgot about the syringe and dropped it. It broke when hitting the floor. Sidric swore over his clumsiness.  
  
Special treatment? What was that supposed to mean? It couldn't be good because it had gotten Sidric all exited!  
  
Before he knew it, Sidric had found a new syringe and stuck it into his arm. Jak just looked at it and wondered what he was doing.  
  
Soon sleepiness came over his exhausted body, and he dozed off into a dreamless sleep.  
  
-----  
  
Dun dun dun dun. What is going to happen to Emaly? Is she going to survive? And Jak, will our all time favourite elf get his veins fried by the 'special treatment'?  
  
-----  
  
This is actually the longest thing I have ever written in English, ever. By far the longest. The things we write in class are pathetically short, like 200 words or something. Not enough to get a real story going.  
  
Thanks for the warm welcome of my story, you actually like it, NICE!  
  
Emaly and Jak: No we don't  
  
Kiz: You're not the ones supposed to like it.  
  
Emaly: Still don't like it  
  
Jak: Yeah, get us out of here!  
  
Kiz: Oh no, you're staying here!  
  
Emaly: No way, come on Jak we're leaving  
  
*Jak and Emaly leave the room*  
  
Kiz: HEY COME BACK HERE!  
  
*Nothing happens*  
  
Kiz: *Singing softly* I'm all alone, there's no one here beside me.  
  
While waiting for them to return, I'll answer the review I got (you rock, you know that?)  
  
Phoe-chan: Was that a compliment? Me thinks it was a compliment. Me like compliments. Well I do consider myself to be pretty good at English.  
  
Then I open my mouth. Damn you stupid accent! It is now official, English pronunciation is not easy when you come from Denmark. Doesn't help that I hate my teacher. She's the meanest, most double-standing b*tch that's able to walk! Grr.  
  
Kiz: Well, enough about me let's talk about you.  
  
Emaly: *Comes back in* Eww, you're groase!  
  
Kiz: It's called HUMOR! And thank god, you're back! *Ties Emaly to the nearest unmovable object*  
  
Darksbane: Nope, you won't know until I consider it appropriate to tell you. Nee-nee!  
  
*Kiz is secretly hoping for Darksbane to send Dark Jak after her*  
  
Emaly: You know, if you released me I could take care of all of them.  
  
Kiz: Not a chance  
  
Karlos: Go ahead baby  
  
Kiz: Hey, what are you doing here, I didn't invite you!  
  
Karlos: Darksbane send me  
  
Kiz: *Ties him up and wraps him up in wrapping paper. Returns him to Darksbane* HERE! Ok, I promise I'll include it as soon as it fits in!  
  
A thought hits Kiz: I could actually use Karlos. I could use a real bastard like him.  
  
Emaly: I can kick his ass!  
  
Kiz: Hold your horses baby, we need approval first!  
  
Emaly: It's easier to get acceptance than approval you always say.  
  
Kiz: *Puts ducktape over Emaly's mouth* One problem taken care of.  
  
Shark: Enthusiastic reviewer aren't you? Well here's another chapter, hint hint.  
  
Emaly: mmm nggi mnmn ii  
  
Kiz: I think she's trying to tell you something  
  
Jak: *comes in the door and frees Emaly*  
  
Kiz: Hey, don't do that  
  
Emaly: Thanks Jak *gives him a peck on the cheek*  
  
Jak: *flushes*  
  
Kiz: Aww  
  
Emaly: Thanks for the reviews folks. Want to drop in another one? Go ahead please!  
  
If I missed out on someone - my apologies. I'll make it up to you - somehow.  
  
Kiz: Wow, seven pages on my comp. That sure is something. Hope you enjoyed it! 


	3. A New Beginning

Yay, A new chapter for you all!  
  
The reason why it took so long: I have been away for a week, great fun and not much sleep. More about that later.  
  
If you guys haven't noticed yet then I can tell you that this is supposed to be a 'dark' story, with all that comes with that. There might be some fluff, sometime. Just need to find the right time, and well. characters that can fluff with each other. (I have a great plan build up in my little twisted head. Not finished by the way.)  
  
You might find that from now on, some of the characters used here also are in other fics. That's because I borrowed them. (THANK YOU)! Reason: when I create a character I like to give him/her a unique or at least complex personality. That takes up a lot of space (just see how much Emaly has taken up so far!). Problem.  
  
Solution: Need bad guy - borrow bad guy. Need asshole - borrow asshole (cough, Karlos cough). If you want someone in here, just let me know, and I'll try to work them in.  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Jak & Daxter or Jak II or Jak (Naughty Dog) or Morion (Rocker baby), but I do own Emaly and Sidric.  
  
Here we go:  
  
Chapter 3: A new Beginning  
  
-----  
  
An eye opened. Her body was fighting against something inside with all it had. Shaking and confused she sat up and looked around.  
  
She was in a little cage, in a large room. Rays of light entered from windows placed near the roof. You could tell from the light reflected in the dust in the air, that the room was very dirty.  
  
There were a lot of other people. The cages was hanging around a metre over the ground, but chained so they wouldn't swing. The cages were a few metres apart. Just enough to make sure no one could touch each other.  
  
Heavy bars going both vertical and horizontal made sure they would stay inside. A thin layer of wood covered the bottom so they weren't in direct contact with the bottom bars, but still not able to get out that way.  
  
Some of the others were stirring, some also sitting up. Other bodies just laid limp. She was searching the room with her eye for the blonde boy and found him to be in a cage not far from her's.  
  
He was breathing heavily and hurling himself to and from, still sleeping. Whatever they put in him seemed to affect him far more than what they put in _her_ affected _her_ body.  
  
Her body was shaking and aching all over, but it was the kind of pain you could ignore. Well, _she_ could ignore, anyway. She was from the street. Any showing of pain or feelings would be taken advantage of. You wouldn't get a chance unless you could. forget. about those things. Sad really. She often wanted to just say what she felt like saying, tell people how much she cared for them or. find a place where you could relax for just one second.  
  
But that place was nowhere. She had learned it the hard way. There was no easy way unless you let go of your principals and do. what needed to be done. A little smile came over her lips thinking about her first thieving lesson from 'a professional'. He thought he was SO smart. She liked being smarter than people who thought they were smart.  
  
----* Flashback *---- After numerous failed attempts she leaned against a wall facing the marketplace. They said it was so easy stealing from people at places like this, why couldn't she?  
  
They always noticed when she grabbed for their purses or else she couldn't find out where they were hiding them. She was beginning to give up.  
  
A boy walked over to the puzzled girl, leaned against the wall next to her.  
  
"No luck, eh?"  
  
"Hmph."  
  
"I'll teach you a few tricks, what do you say?"  
  
"."  
  
"Don't worry pretty thing like you should be able to give me back what you owe me without much trouble."  
  
"Well then, show me what you got", she said eyeing him.  
  
"Payment first"  
  
"No way. You'll just run off as soon as you have gotten your 'payment' "  
  
"And what makes you think I feel like trusting you?"  
  
"You started." A small grin formed on her lips.  
  
"Got me there"  
  
-----  
  
The rest of the day was spend training. Techniques, hints and much more was discussed professionally between the two. Pure business.  
  
Payback time was set in his apartment.  
  
A passionate-looking, but cold-hearted kiss pressed her against the wall. Her finger traced slowly along the lining of his trousers from his side to the front.  
  
About halfway there she felt a hand making its way inside her (actually very small) top.  
  
That was her cue. She drew the knife he had at his side and planted it deep in his stomach rummaging a little.  
  
She felt a warm liquid run over her fingers and on to her clothes.  
  
As all his movements stopped she put a foot against his chest and pushed back. His body fell limp on the floor.  
  
"Bastard", she said with a dry voice.  
  
"One down, a world to go", she added with a sigh. Amused of the way one side of her was trying to make up for all bad in the world. Amused indeed.  
  
One side hoping and believing in a greater good somewhere, the other laughing at it's foolishness.  
  
-----*END OF FLASHBACK*-----  
  
She felt like improving the world, she just didn't know how to.  
  
First, she might need to improve herself. She had gotten rather mean over the years. But right now, all she wanted to improve was her situation.  
  
-----  
  
A few cages from the wondering girl Jak fell into consciousness only to realize how bad he was feeling.  
  
It felt like all his muscles were being ripped over on the same time, all the time. The pain was unbearable. He tossed and turned trying to make it go away, unsuccessful. He had a hard time breathing as well. It hurt really bad when taking in air, so he had to take few, but big breaths.  
  
After a few minutes of consciousness he passed out again. The pain would end for a little while, but be in his body for a long time after. Maybe forever. Nothing could compare to what he felt like now. And it wasn't in the good way.  
  
-----  
  
The man in the cage next to her collapsed with a sigh and stopped breathing after some time. Death was all around her, taking the tortured souls to eternal rest. She kept an eye on the blonde as if it would help him stay alive.  
  
As his movements were getting less radical and his breathing stabilized, she began to relax.  
  
After some time she stopped shaking, but could still feel something stirring inside.  
  
Eco. Would she now be constantly charged with. white was it?. eco? She felt like herself. And looked the same for that matter.  
  
The others didn't sees to be charged either. How did it affect them at all? Oh yeah, they were guinea pigs. They were used to see if this would really work.  
  
Somewhere she could hear a man taking his last desperate inhales before giving up. Next to her a guy was having cramps. It was the guy who was experimented on before her. She remembered his lanky body. As he rolled over dead she got to look into his big, brown eyes seeing relief.  
  
-----  
  
A few hours later, and after a little sleep, some guards came in. They removed those of the prisoners who were dead and took down their cages leaving only seven or so. And to make sure they were dead. A knife was placed directly in their heart.  
  
She looked around at the remaining 'crowd' and saw that Jak was one of them. And he was sleeping peacefully. Somehow he touched her motherly side, even though she didn't thought she had one. She felt a need to protect him.  
  
"Motherly side", she whispered to herself  
  
"Nah, I traded my motherly side for the will to survive a long time ago", she thought.  
  
-----  
  
Waking up to a sore body was nothing new to him, but the fact that the enormous pain, he had felt the last time he woke up, was gone surprised him.  
  
His body had sort of given in to whatever plagued him before, now letting it aid him.  
  
He looked up to see most of the cages gone. But Emaly was there, and she was awake. Didn't she ever sleep?  
  
They got eye contact and she waved her hand to make sure he had seen her.  
  
He sat up facing her.  
  
"Morning", she looked and sounded surprisingly fresh  
  
"Morning"  
  
"Thought I was gonna loose you, y'know"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You should have seen yourself. MAN, you looked like you had a nightmare that lasted for years put down in a few hours! You were shaking, no. cramping and tossing and turning, in your sleep! And for hours. You got me all worried. It's good you're feeling better."  
  
"Who said I fell better?"  
  
"You definitely look so."  
  
"I don't feel better, just different"  
  
". Me too. It's like you couldn't win, so you just gave up. I hate the feeling of giving up. Giving in to something you don't want. Something you don't know what is. I mean, I do a lot of things where I don't know the consequences, but this. It was either give in or. die. I thought I was strong and could hold on. It really bothers me you know?"  
  
"Or maybe you were just strong enough to merge with the power given to you."  
  
Silence came from the girl and spread to the entire room. The others were listening too, awaiting an answer.  
  
"Y-you mean what?" She said with a doubting voice breaking the silence  
  
"Some people are good at channelling eco, some can't and some are in between. If you're a really good channeller I guess you can unite with it too, if under the right circumstances."  
  
Somehow whatever little he said always seemed to make so much sense that he didn't have to say more than a few sentences a day. Unlike most of the people she knew he didn't talk just to talk. Being able to talk all the time could also be a gift, but somehow this seemed so much more valuable even though you didn't get to know him very well. Or maybe this just was knowing him - the strong and silent type.  
  
She wondered. And admired. He would make a great ally.  
  
-----  
  
All the others were awake now. Some had been listening to the quiet conversation between the two, others had just been distant, trying to regain control of themselves.  
  
Sidric entered the room. He looked around, quite pleased to see that several people had survived. That was more than expected. Well, _someone_ surviving was more than expected.  
  
He felt a small squint of jealousy build up inside him. He feared that he wouldn't be in charge of this much longer. He was just hired to invent a to put eco into people. Then someone with closer relations to 'the boss' would just take over.  
  
He didn't want to quit now. It was HIS experiment. HIS success. HIS inventions. HIS gunea pigs.  
  
He owned them.  
  
He started it all, why couldn't he.? He knew there was no way of getting to be in charge. Damn that Morion guy. He was the Baron's favourite. He was in charge of all the good experiments.  
  
He was still the only one who could liquefy eco. No one else knew how to. He didn't know what he did himself, but the experiments just seemed to work when he was around.  
  
If he was lucky he would get a job as assistent.  
  
A sigh was heard from the scientist before he gave the orders to test the survivors.  
  
Test their strength, agility, eyesight and so on. They would be tested regularly to see if there was any progress.  
  
-----  
  
And progress indeed.  
  
To begin with they could just feel a slight buzz inside that went away after a few days. Even though you couldn't tell by their looks, their bodies grew stronger and their brains sharper for every day they had been affected by the eco.  
  
Because of the successful experiments more eco-affected people soon joined the growing crowd, but none of them were as strong as the first few.  
  
They didn't seem to have the same natural feel with the eco.  
  
-----  
  
OOOoooh! Exiting! Want more? I'll give it to ya, but you got to review.  
  
Now for review-responses:  
  
Who's first?  
  
You all: Me, me!  
  
Kiz: Nope one at the time, let's do it chronologically.  
  
Darksbane: He's mine now. Hehe! I've got something in store for him and Emaly (this is called teasing.). Too bad I'm now quite sure what that something is yet.  
  
As for Kaza, I think I might hire him to do a sum up of a chapter if it gets too.. let's say mature, violent or sex-oriented, OK?  
  
Kaza: Hey you dimwit, a' 'ave ears 'nd fellin's too, ya know!  
  
Kiz: No I don't, and besides, I suck at writing weird English. I'm already having a hard time with the ordinary. Praise be to whoever invented the dictionary! Hey that rhymed!  
  
Speaking of rhyming, last week I has at a musicschool-thing (reason why I don't call it band-camp will follow later.). And we (about 60 kids my age) were 'secret friend' for one of the other.  
  
For mine I wrote a poem each day that was read out loud at one of the meals. They were a little love-letter like, and he got SO embarrassed, and it was SO fun! He forgave me in the end, because he also thought they were funny. And every body loved them, and they were so surpriced that I had written them. I got so many positive compliments. I feel good.  
  
Oh yeah, the reasom why I didn't call it band-camp: I play the flute. (And this one time. at band-camp.), hmm that's one of the first things I hear when telling people that I play the flute. yay, not.  
  
Back to Darksbane. Thanks for letting me borrow your characters, I'll let you borrow my pencil sharpener in return. If you dare handle it's almighty and undefeatable power. Or something.  
  
Next is. (drums) Eco master! Thanks, but I won't. I plan on not only dragging him through a lot more of physical pain (psycic too) , but also mental and moral decisions and what's worse. There. I plan on being a real meenie to them.  
  
Jak and Emaly: NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo (you get the idea?)  
  
As they scream, I continue with Amandaxter: Thanks, and BTW I'm Danish. You should have an idea of where Denmark is ( you're German, right?) or I'll hit you really hard with a dansk-tysk (translation: Danish-dutch)-dictionary if I manage to find one somewhere. Ok, not serious, but just look a little north of your own country.  
  
Jak and Emaly: ooooooooOOOOOOOOooo (breathe) ooooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooo  
  
Kiz: enough already!  
  
Jak sending sorry-eyes  
  
Emaly panting heavily  
  
Rocker baby: One word: Awwwowyoureallythinkso?Thanks,hugsandforgiveness.Favouriteyousure?NicethatsS OOcool.  
  
:D  
  
I'm flattered! (a big, note BIG, smile goes across Kiz's face from one ear to the other)  
  
Kiz comes back to earth.  
  
The counting thing is actually something I have gotten from my mom. I'm good at remembering numbers too. Well, that's me! As far as I remember there's 701 steps up the Eiffel Tower in Paris if you take the elevator up the first piece of way.  
  
I just took that and mixed it with going insane. That's just my guess at the outcome.  
  
This is now beginning to be one of the longest things I have written like, EVER! Wow, I just keep impressing myself.  
  
As mentioned before: If you would like someone to be in this fic, just ask away!  
  
But don't forget to REVIEW!  
  
Ellers finder jeg en gnu og sender den efter dig! HA!  
  
*Translation: Or else I'll find a (my lousy dictionary does not cover the work 'gnu', but it's like an African oxe or something) and send it after you! HA! 


	4. And this little piggy goes to?

Disclaimer: Naughty Dog owns the story and character's, Darksbane owns Bayton and Karlos, Rocker baby owns Morion and I own the rest.  
  
Now to the story, but first, a word from our sponsors!  
  
Emaly: Our? Schizophrenic b*tch.  
  
-----  
  
Have you got a hard time remembering or just thinking? Well try the new skull softener shampoo, it'll get you thinking in no time!  
  
By Kiz shampoos inc.  
  
-----  
  
*Darksbane stands with a screeching mike on a overlighted stage*  
  
Darksbane: Umm, [whispers to Kiz] what am I gonna say?  
  
Kiz: Just promote your story.  
  
Darksbane: Um, ok.  
  
Guy #53: Times up! CUT  
  
-----  
  
Chapter 4: And this little piggy goes to.?  
  
After god knows how long the testing days were over.  
  
They had all grown strong, but how would eco affect them now? Would they be even better at channelling, and able to use it for lethal purposes?  
  
-----  
  
Meanwhile the room was being filled again with new people in cages, who had obviously also survived the first experiment. 20 cages along the walls, leaving an open space in the middle.  
  
Some died off over time. One had been experimented on with red eco, so all his muscles had become extremely strong. Including his heart. One day at testing, his pulse got up and BAM, he blew his aorta (biological A/N: first vein directly after the heart. Has to resist enormous pressure during heart systole).  
  
"One less for Sidric to play with", Emaly thought envying his destiny.  
  
-----  
  
They were taken in 4 at the time.  
  
Jak was in group with a guy named Bayton and two girls named Lisa and Jen. A polite, but quiet quartet.  
  
In the laboratory a cluster of blue eco was set up in the middle. The four were strapped in chairs in one end. Jen was released and everybody watched her as she approached the cluster.  
  
She was the first to try to channel after the experiments. Sidric and another man were watching intensely.  
  
As she touched it, her whole body was engulfed in blue flames and her body gave a twitch as the energy took over her body.  
  
She was no longer in charge of her body. Sparks of blue eco flew through the air. After around 20 seconds it was all over and Jen laid limp on the floor. A guard was send to check her pulse. None. She was then removed by the guards as if she was a bag of potatoes. Out, and on to the next.  
  
Bayton was released and he sceptically walked up to the red eco placed before him. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and walked into the substance.  
  
Channelling the eco he was send to his knees. The eco made his body heavy but strong. Really strong.  
  
His body was flooded with energy. All he had to do was take control of it. Not as simple as said, but he did keep it from taking the full control of his body.  
  
Meanwhile the others just watched his struggle against an invisible enemy. He was also radiating eco, but at the ending of his chargeup, he had stopped the eco from diffunding out in the room, and could also stand up. His eyes glowed red.  
  
Sidric and the other guy were impressed. In the middle of his enthusiastic scribble-fury Sidric's eyes suddenly began to glow with jealousy. He shook his head and continued writing.  
  
As the eco's effect wore off, Bayton fell to the ground, exhausted. The fight and use of the eco had taken all his energy. He had not yet learned how to use the eco as an energy source, so he quickly used up his body's energy storages.  
  
"Well, that's a keeper. Put him back in the cage for now, but keep an eye on him!", the man next to Sidric said. As for Sidric; he just grumphed.  
  
Jak was up next and both his and Lisa's eyes widened when a guard carefully placed a box of dark eco on the floor after releasing Jak.  
  
"D-d", was all Jak could mutter  
  
"Yes, dark eco. Now go", the man next to Sidric said, "Hopefully it won't hurt you"  
  
Jak was very confused at this point, just standing and staring.  
  
"What the dear Morion is trying to tell you, is that I managed to liquefy dark eco and put it into your system, so you should be able to channel dark eco by now, or at least not get killed by it". He gave a triumphant glare at Morion, who just shot a 'so-what-?' look back.  
  
A guard pushed Jak up to the box with the end of his gun. During the short while he had been in this new world, one of the things he had learned was that such things. weren't to be messed with.  
  
"Go on, stick your hand down in it", Morion said, obviously getting a little impatient.  
  
With seven guns pointing at him from 2 metres distance and one touching his temple, he finally agreed to stick his hand down in the ooze.  
  
-----  
  
Emaly was in the last group with two green's and a blue (A/N: the colour of the eco which they were experimented with). She knew the blue from before, and hated him as if it was the sole purpose of her life.  
  
She send him an evil glare, but he just smiled back.  
  
"You look so sweet when you get angry, darling."  
  
Her eyes widened and she was just about to jump at him, but a guard held her back.  
  
"Save that for later, you'll need it", a man's voice said from somewhere behind her. He had just entered the room and went to take his seat in the other end of the prisoners.  
  
"Everything is ready to go, sir Morion", Sidric said with great disgust in his voice.  
  
"Ah, I see you finally learned it"  
  
The two scientists didn't pay much attention to the fastened foursome during their little conversation.  
  
"Some day I'm gonna kill you", Emaly said  
  
"Don't make promises you can't hold" He was annoying her as always  
  
"I will, some day. Or else I'll make someone do it for me. But none the less it is a fact: You will die by the hands of someone who hates your guts as much as I do"  
  
"Sure, but it won't be you. You still love me, I know it"  
  
"You always burn your bridges, it will be your death some day."  
  
"Don't change the subject."  
  
"Shut up you two!" Morion had turned his attention from Sidric, who was releasing one of the greens while a guard placed a blue eco cluster in the middle of the room.  
  
"Hey, Isn't that for me?", the blue said gloating as if he knew all about the experiment.  
  
"Good observation, but it is a fact that most of the. survivors are green eco experiments, so we thought we might be interested in knowing how other ecos affect them." With this comment Sidric was beginning to be very excited. You could tell by the way he acted around the experiments that he was a real scientist, seeking all the knowledge he could gain, trying out everything, being very nosy etc.  
  
The green was a fat, little woman in the late 20's. She was pushed into the cluster by one of the guards.  
  
"Tired of waiting?", Emaly thought. They were after all the last experiments of the day.  
  
She looked like she got electroshocked, the eco's sparkles running over her body making her cramp. And eventually fall dead to the floor.  
  
"One more" Morion said calmly  
  
The other green, a young boy, was also pushed into a cluster of blue eco. The same thing happened to him except that he took control of the eco. He channelled it, but couldn't use it. It was just blue sparkles flying over his skin, and they eventually died out.  
  
When it came to green eco, he would channel it like he had done nothing else his entire life. When seeing him channel it was like watching it through green transparent glass. Everything about him just turned more green, his eyes, hair and even skin a little. It was the same with all the other colours.  
  
Next was the blue. He didn't have any trouble at all controlling the eco. He was even better than the green guy before.  
  
"So what do you say baby?" He said turned to Emaly, who was still strapped.  
  
"Oh, shut up Karlos. I'm NOT impressed" Surprised, but definitely not impressed.  
  
He walked over to her. The guards kept a safe distance; you couldn't know what he might do powered up.  
  
She looked prettier than the last time he saw her. In fact, she looked better every time he saw her. She was tanned, brown-haired and brown-eyed, in fact the only thing that broke her anonymous brown shade was the left part of her eye being a clear green. Because of that brown shade, you hardly noticed her anywhere. That making her the perfect thief, which she also was. Everything about her was just attracting to him; she fascinated him.  
  
She was perfectly built in every way, you just didn't notice until you had studied every inch of her body like he had.  
  
"What a shame", he mumbled as the blue eco's effect wore off. He didn't have to fight to control the eco, so he wasn't exhausted at all.  
  
While he was being lead out of the room, Emaly was released. The guards weren't holding on to her, so she easily slid around them and threw a fist at Karlos.  
  
He dodged it and hit her instead with a foot in the stomach, sending her a metre back. Taking advantage of her laying position she quickly swept him from his feet.  
  
She didn't get a chance to get to a standing position before he was over her, nailing her to the ground with his weight and a grip of her short hair. She tried to get away, but couldn't.  
  
"You can't beat me, nobody can", he whispered into her ear.  
  
A guard pulled him to his feet and pointed his gun towards him.  
  
"See you, baby"  
  
Karlos was being dragged out of the room with a vicious grin on his lips. Emaly just gave him a glare. He was still too strong. She would give the world to beat the crap out of him, and enjoy every second. Yes indeed, it would be priceless.  
  
Alone with the scientist and guards in the room she approached the white eco cloud set before her. They said it was unstable. Maybe she could avoid this experiment if she just waited long enough, and let the eco lose its energy?  
  
"Maybe", she thought as she stopped half a metre from the cluster, only to be pushed the last piece of way by the hand of Morion.  
  
-----  
  
Well, a little cliffie for you guys. Writer's block has struck again and prevented this chapter from being any longer and more plot-evolving (is that a word?). Hope you understand what I mean.  
  
Kiz: Kaza, do your thing! (Darksbane send him after me, and I kept him )  
  
Kaza: What thing?  
  
Kiz: You know, he thing where you sum up all the important things of this chapter..  
  
Kaza: Oh, hmm. Other ecos lose their effect on those who have been experimented on with eco. Yer have to be a really good channeller to control 'your' eco afterwards, 'cause yer body's very sensitive to it. Or else it'll kill ya.  
  
Jak met Bayton, but they were separated soon after. Not much there.  
  
An'. Oh good lord! Emaly an' Karlos have a history together! SHE LIKES THE DAMN BASTARD! *glares angrily at Kiz who just shrugs* Karlos has a thing for her as well, so it's kind of a love-hate relationship.  
  
Why do yer have to be THAT mean?  
  
Kiz: I am.  
  
Kaza: What 'bout her so-called death obsession?  
  
Kiz: More about that later  
  
Kaza: You're insane  
  
Kiz: That too.  
  
Kaza: Oh brother.  
  
-----  
  
In my opinion not a very good chapter. Couldn't find inspiration despite the fact that I had borrowed a muse. Maybe I ought to get my own. Naw, I'll just use Kaza if Darksbane'll let me.  
  
As for the story I have been thinking of giving Emaly a monologue about her view on life, love (it's gonna be interesting with Karlos around) and. hmm. whatever fall on my mind. Is it a good idea, or should I just drop it?  
  
Until I find out, review responses:  
  
AD: my sincerest apologies. I got confused by the German calling themselves 'deutche' or something. SO I kind of thought it was the same thing.  
  
Emaly: think again.  
  
Kiz: *Goes sit in a corner to wear off shame*  
  
Rocker baby: Re-he-heally? Ya think so? *Gets out of the corner and goes off to celebrate just Kiz and a full wine-cellar* (and yes it's just you, I don't like wine. I LOVE it.)  
  
Darker than your's? Am I good or what?  
  
Emaly: You're not good, you're just mean.  
  
Kiz: And I love it. Je suis le plus méchante (summer holiday has made me forget all my French. So I kinda needed this brush-up)  
  
*Translation: I am the meanest  
  
Kaza: *tries to sneak out door, but it's locked and accidentally starts a very loud alarm*  
  
Kiz: You're not going ANYWHERE. You're my prisoner. *turns off alarm*  
  
Emaly: (relieved) Thank you. Wait a minute, prisoners?  
  
Kiz: Not you, you're property. *Mutes Emaly*  
  
Emaly: *makes big gestures and mouth moving rapidly, but nothing comes out*  
  
Oh, like I have said 5684946 times before I am Danish, you might know H. C. Andersen if any.  
  
Shark: Been there, done that. You like this chappie too?  
  
Darksbane: How did I do? Good enough for ya? Hope so or else *I'll* strangle Kaza!  
  
Kaza: NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, mommy help me! *Kiz grins evilly in the background*  
  
Nobinoir: Thanks, and I have written more (obviously). Fall in love? Maybe, but it won't be twosided (to happy for my little mean story). Besides Emaly has Karlos, and that sure is going to be interesting.  
  
Kiz: That's all for now. Next chapter will be up soon if I manage to find inspiration. Kaza, INPIRE ME; NOW!  
  
Kaza: yer can't MAKE me inspire you. Yer 'ave ta LET me!  
  
Kiz: *grumples*  
  
Review! 


	5. Transformation

Chapter five: Transformation (sorry guys - short chapter; I had writer's block AND had to get ready for my vacation)  
  
-----  
  
"This is suicide", he thought when his fingers were mere centimetres away from the dark eco. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before gathering all his courage to face death itself.  
  
To his good luck Death was on a break and had send Pain and Suffering in his place. It didn't hurt as much as after the first experiment, but it was close. This was after all the stuff that could be defined as the antibody of all living.  
  
And now it was inside him and all around him. Conquering it, he made it be him as well.  
  
He looked down on his now dead-like, silver white hands that were equipped with long claws. He could see his reflection in one of the guards armour. His whole body had the same 'colour' and his eyes were a shade of black that didn't cast back any light instead of his regular clear blue.  
  
He could feel that great strength had settled inside him, but he didn't like the way that it had come in. He didn't like this at all. When would he wake up and realize that this was nothing but a bad dream? And it was all their fault. If it had not been for them, he would not have to suffer. He felt a little rage come to the surface but tried to keep it down.  
  
Meanwhile, the two scientists looked at him with hungry eyes. He actually used dark eco. Anyone else would have been seriously hurt or died by that dose. But instead a terrifying monster was standing before them looking at them with its dead eyes.  
  
Scared and amazed they watched it approach them and take a swing at Morion. He easily dodged it because of Jak's still clumsy movements. But one thing was for sure: If they worked together, all the survivors would hold too much power for anyone to handle, so they had to spread them out.  
  
To make room for them Morion had to "let go" of some other prisoners. "Spring cleaning". A vicious smile spread over Morion's lips.  
  
Meanwhile Jak tried to whipe the smile off his lips with a punch, but he had not gotten used to his new "shape", and missed him by half a metre. He seriously needed training to get this clumsy powerhouse moving and kicking butt before the target was miles away. Too slow: Agility training.  
  
Jak was wise enough to stay in the room. No guards would jump at him as long as he looked like a monster, but as soon as he turned back they would be all over him. And punishment would await.  
  
The eco was used up and left was Jak standing; head cocked, blank eyes, panting heavily, ready to collapse.  
  
-----  
  
The feeling of channelling was a rush of energy - adrenaline, through every muscle, enableling you to perform moves faster, more precise and harder.  
  
But this was just. Her mind against her body that now was affected by eco, threatening to take over.  
  
As she struggled to take over she could feel something on her back on both sides of her spine. It tickled in the annoying way, making her twitch her shoulder blades back every second or so.  
  
As she gained more and more control of her body, the something on her back was getting heavier. A lot heavier, and fast.  
  
Every time she took her full attention away from the channelled eco she lost the regained control of her body.  
  
As she finally gained full control of the eco, she swayed, lost her balance because of the thing on her back and fell backwards landing directly on her back. She couldn't turn around because of. then she saw it:  
  
Wings, she had grown large, white-feathered wings! They were heavy as hell and therefore keeping her down. She just laid still looking at the wings connected to her body, not noticing the other changes.  
  
The eco's effect had worn off and her wings were degenerating, leaving two marks that looked like ravines on either side of her spine to mark where the wings emerged from, leaving her stunned.  
  
"Useless", Morion said with a cold voice  
  
"W-what?", Sidric's voice was low and the comment stunning him.  
  
"WHAT!?", Emaly's voice was both loud and high pitched by anger.  
  
"What I just said" Morion's voice was calm as ever.  
  
"Why you." She went to assault him, but was stopped by a guard. She tried to move out of his grip, but as he took a better hold of her, it hurt every time she struggled. She agreed to follow the guard out without giving much trouble. As she left the room the scientists were in a deep discussion.  
  
"She's not trash, you saw it yourself: She was one of the only one who developed physically"  
  
"Nailing herself to the ground along with it"  
  
"Just give her more time, and it will come. I'm sure she will fly"  
  
"As much as the sky is flourishing pink", the last two words were spat out  
  
"NO, you can't just kill her"  
  
"Ok then, my dear ASSISTANT. You will be in charge of HER experiments. I'm only using those who's really up for the task."  
  
-----  
  
Soon after they were spread out all over the prison, to make sure they wouldn't co-operate. Chickens. She would do ok, but she was concerned for Jak. She feared that his kind and friendly nature would be lost to, well reality.  
  
He was sleeping in his cage when they took him away. She was Sidrics personal experiment and was doomed to spend the rest of her days in his laboratory.  
  
Unless she could help it.  
  
-----  
  
The longest chapter in history! Ok, promise the next is going to be MUCH longer, I'm under serious timepressure! Going to France (yes France RB, hehe) Saturday for three weeks, I HAD to have this up before. So it's a bit quickly written, I'll probably rewrite this and chap 4 when I get home. If I have the time - you know school starts and stuff.  
  
-----  
  
By now you should be able to see the difference in the way the two (jak and emaly) think. Example from last chapter: Jak 'mentions' their names where Emaly concentrates around their abilities.  
  
Reivewer's responses:  
  
Nobinoir: That's what I do  
  
AmanDaxter: I know you Dutch have a language - it is impossible to understand, but somehow readable for Danes. Example: I am able to get some sense out of a newspaper from the Netherlands, cool huh? (and if I'm wrong again, I'll write a happy fic, where everybody dies just to make up for it. )  
  
Darksbane: I AM a genius, I am everything - and that includes your grandma'!  
  
Rocker Baby: Welcome! I see we share a passion. Underaged, too bad. Just come to Denmark, 15 and you're NOT underaged. I must admit I seriously comsidered getting myself a French muse when I started writing here, but oyu already had one, so I let the thought go.  
  
Dark depressing ways? Yes indeed, I am both good (not synonym to happy) and evil. I am everything, including your grandma'. May I add that that is one of my favorite weird thing to say?  
  
Shark: It is, will and is allowed to be: NASTY! I have thought of that, but first I have to get the story SPOILER, Ok not really a spoiler: out of the prison. Out where there are no limits. Then I'll start the 'mingling'.  
  
I have hardly (misspelled hardly to begin with, I'm good, ya?) double- checked anything in this post besides the story, so bear with me!  
  
If you're quick you can still catch me on the mail before I leave, but until then: Review! 


	6. One down, one to go

Guess who's back. Yup, ME! France was great and I see that the forum has been busy for the three weeks I've been gone. Anyway, I got a sun-burn and therefore spend some hours with a piece of paper and ended out with the main plot of what will soon reveal itself to thee. Hope you like it.  
  
Disclaimer: I steal with my arms and legs, and don't even give you credit. Get used to it.  
  
-----  
  
Chapter 6: One down, one to go  
  
There comes a time when you get used to something, no matter what it is, you have just done it enough times. There comes a time when you are able to do something against your very nature. Be it killing one of the likes of you or committing suicide. or worse. There comes a time when you die, but live on. There comes a time when you obey. There comes a time when you are no longer you.  
  
"Lift!" She took a better hold of the bar and moved her hands up, the bar following.  
  
"Great, 250, you can put it down again" She gently put down the bar  
  
He told her to come and she came, to jump and she jumped, to hold her breath and she held it until she fainted. She had noting to live or die for any more. She was just an empty shell. She had died a long time ago, but hadn't realized until she got to Atticus.  
  
She would often look at her reflection in the shiny metal in the laboratory. Over time the difference in the colour of her hair and skin had gone from almost nothing to beech and mahogany. Her eyes looked dim, almost like she was sick, but she new why.  
  
The lost illusions, the drowned hopes. There might as well be nothing out there, she didn't know of it any more. Training day out and day in; but she got good. She still couldn't fly. too heavy, but walk, run and fight was no longer impossible. In fact, the wings had brought her new abilities. She would use them to stay midair a little longer than usual and perform more moves while up there.  
  
She was beginning to see things from Sidric's perspective. How far can you go, what is the furthest extent of your powers? Could she still consume eco?  
  
And at that very instant her wings started degenerating and the claws on her fingers disappeared. She sank to her usual height as her bird-like feet turned back to normal and the thin, soft, yellow fur on her hands turned light brown as her skin. Her reflection showed herself. Her own brown eyes instead of the light absorbing white ones she had when she was 'the griffin', as she called her alter ego brought out by white eco.  
  
Sidric stared at her for a minute before he remembered that special power of her's. Might be some good use to it, but  
  
"Bring it back, we don't have time for games now"  
  
"I can't"  
  
"What do you mean you can't?"  
  
"I tried. Hard. I can't" All she needed to concentrate hard was to close her eyes. She did. She searched through every fiber, every cell. Nothing. It was hiding and she couldn't find it. After a while she gave up. If she couldn't find it in an hour she couldn't find it at all.  
  
-----  
  
Out through the door and a bang and a click of a key. She got to her feet as a well-known voice started talking.  
  
"Sad news, sister" Morion was trying to catch her attention while she examined her surroundings. A rooftop with nothing near to jump to. Damn, this was serious.  
  
"Well, it's gonna have a hard time getting' any sadder than you" Suddenly she wanted to live just because Morion wanted her dead. She walked over to the edge and looked down. Were they people? They looked like ants.  
  
"Sidric is dead. We don't need you any more, you're superfluous" She could hear something moving up behind her and put it's hand on her shoulder. So soon? She quickly skid to the side and with a circular kick she send him to the edge, off balance. For a few seconds the guard fought to get his balance back, but ended up falling. His scream could be heard all the way down. As he landed, he whirled up a little dust from the sandy yard.  
  
From the yard she looked at the tall buildings and what was between them. A bridge here and a bridge there, but it still left out an enormous amount of unused space. So much nothing. A magpie flew between the buildings some stories down and landed in a nest. Would it ever be possible for her to fly like that? She knew she had lost a lot of weight, which wasn't in muscle. But was it enough to let her use her wings? Bones? Naw, what was there to lose in them? Maybe they got hollow? Hmm.  
  
"I said jump or shot?", Morion roared. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she missed his question.  
  
"Huh?" She turned around  
  
"You want to jump or have me to shoot you?"  
  
"Oh, so you're the nice guy now letting me choose?" She walked up to the middle of the roof until she stood about 3 metres from him  
  
"."  
  
"Of cause I'll jump. Don't you think I can do things by myself?"  
  
"Well then. I hate to let a successful experiment go, but as is seems, you are worthless. The only was to survive the fall is to. fly away, right? And I don't see no white eco around, do you? Besides, I heard you couldn't use those wings of yours to anything else than keeping you down." She had gone back to the edge, looking out over it. On one hand she felt like jumping and feeling the air run past her body, but on the other hand she felt like staying alive. She didn't want to end her days as a red stain on a yard wall  
  
"Who killed Sidric by the way?"  
  
"Who cares, he's dead"  
  
"Uh-huh. You wouldn't be afraid of him would you?" She walked up close to him. For a few seconds no one said anything  
  
"Shut your fucking asshole and jump, bitch, or I'll make it worst for yourself"  
  
Emaly bowed, took a deep breath and ran up to the edge and jumped. A slight hint of remorse passed her mind. She thought it would be easier to kill herself. There on the rooftop life had suddenly become dear to her. She suddenly wanted to cling to it for as long as possible. You can change things. Sidirc died and she got free.  
  
A little tear formed in her eye, but it was quickly parted from her because of something on her back.  
  
The pressure from beneath her wings held her up. The eco stored in her body must have reconstructed her body to be airborn. Of course, that's why she lost weight. She had gotten a bit of control over her wings while working with Sidric, and that helped her now. But this was nothing like standing in a laboratory.  
  
She could see Atticus disappear out of the corner of her eye, the sea beneath her. The endless field of blue-green waves. She lowered her altitude, so she could touch them. The timid water running through her fingers with high speed. Before she got too far out she lifted her one wing, lifting herself and turning towards town. She could now see Atticus again, looming over the city like a vulture over a corpse. She never wanted to go there again, but she feared she had to.  
  
-----  
  
Same thing every time. You get pulled out of bed on the most inappropriate time of day. Testing. With eco. The smell alone was enough to send a rat to the emergency room.  
  
Jak walked up to the eco and charged up. Even that has become rutine. Feeling your body be aided and formed by the strongest of acids. The only reason why he didn't cry when he saw his reflection was because he couldn't. Why should a killer-machine be able to cry anyway?  
  
Just charged up, a guard was sent to check Jak's blood pressure. Jak was tactically correct placed behind a 3 metre high wall of unbreakable glass. Just to make sure the scientists were safe.  
  
The guard slowly approached. Jak streched out his arm as usual, but as the guard put the machine around Jak's arm, he stroke. Jak grabbed the arm and slung the guard in an arch over the demonish figure, making him land directly on his back forcing all the air out of his lungs. A sound of bones cracking came from the guard as Jak curled him up to a human ball.  
  
At first he is thrown directly at the glass, but bounces a few centimetres back instead of going through. Sidric was just starring in chock, mouth wide open. Morion on the other hand was fleeing faster than rats on a sinking ship. There was no limit to the powers the monster held when released.  
  
Jak picked up the remains of the guard and reassembled the pieces to a new ball before throwing it over the glass wall in the direction of where Sidric and Morion stood before.  
  
He couldn't see anything because of the bloodstain from the guard's mauled body, but to his luck, one target was frozen at the place of the impact.  
  
The human ball dropped vertically down on Sidric, who just looked at it with wide eyes before going entirely blank.  
  
His skull was cracked and his spine in pieces because of the angle of impact. Despite the horrible sight Jak felt nothing but the joy of revenge  
  
"Don't ever fuck with Dark Jak", he mumbled, tasting his new name. Perfect.  
  
He then walked up to the glass wall blocking his way. For a moment he just pointed at it before giving it his hardest direct kick. The wall went back about ten centimetres and small cracks spread in all directions. A few more kicks and punches and he was through, but the room had been emptied and locked up at his first sign of uncontrollability.  
  
His silvery white hand ripped off the door at its hinges and revealed a blockade of tables, stones and burning torches. No match for invincibility, though. What he couldn't drag in he pushed out and soon the blockade was no more.  
  
The corridor was going right-left, but for kicks Jak decided to go strait forwards also to test his strength.  
  
The heavy rocks were torn out of the wall as easy as if they were drawers. Jak ended up in a room similar to the one used to test him except that there was no protective glass wall in this one. He stormed out of the door just to meet a new corridor going right-left.  
  
Without a thought he turned right. He always came and left his testing room in the other direction. Left, cell. right, freedom. Or so he hoped.  
  
The corridor led to another corridor, which led to another one. and another one. Jak ran as fast as he could and knocked down the guards he met on his way.  
  
The corridors began to get wider and lighter. Just as he reached a large hall the eco's effect wore off and he collapsed on the floor. So close to freedom. And yet so far away.  
  
Jak's heavy breathing was interrupted by boots marching over the wooden floor. A knee was placed on his back and his hands put in chains. As he was struggling to get up he could hear Morins voice hiss close to his ear.  
  
"You bastard! You son of a bitch! I'll make you pay for killing the man who made these experiments possible. I need him. You won't get away with stopping this. [Turns to a guard] Take him away! [Turn to Jak again] I'll see to it that you'll regret your actions today. In every possible way. Welcome to Hell"  
  
-----  
  
It was a beautiful sunset [*1]. The sun was just over the horizon, filling the sky with a beautiful rosy colour. From his barred window Jak could see something flying away over the sea, turning towards the city. It looked too big to be a bird and had too long legs. In fact it looked like a human with wings and funny feet. He felt like growing wings and flying away, but he knew he couldn't. That would be too easy.  
  
He would probably be stuck here forever. With a sigh he rolled over on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He felt like he had lost everything. He had, but he had gotten something new instead. He had made some good friends while at Atticus.  
  
He looked to his side and saw a figure wrapped in a grimy, holed blanket. He had gotten something new. And he liked this new, but hated the surroundings. First chance he got he would get all his new friends with him out of this hellhole.  
  
He fisted his hand and promised himself that things would get better once they got out of here. And that they would get out of here. some day. If they couldn't bust their way out they would just disappear or fly away like that. human bird he saw.  
  
"Damn you Morion"  
  
"What?", it with a sleepy voice from the huddled figure on the floor  
  
"Oh, nothing. You should go back to sleep. We have to get up in two hours"  
  
"Yeah, but you should try and get some too. How long is the shift?"  
  
"12 hour, again?" He really hated Morion. Since he killed Sidric all he had been doing was working the long shifts. Cleaning, washing. Everywhere. Damn, the first week he had gotten one a day, missing a meal each time. He hoped for Morion to soon get a new love-to-hate. And that was only the shifts. Morion managed to hit a new highest of pain at every chance he got. More eco, double dose. 'Hey, let's try with another eco and see if it kills him'.  
  
"Havn't they used up our quote by now?"  
  
"Doesn't seem like it"  
  
"Guess you're right"  
  
"G'night Phay"  
  
"Night Jak"  
  
-----  
  
Tada! Now, what do you think? I tried doing more Jak, like it?  
  
Emaly: "Jak, how dare you try to take over my story? You're not the 'thieving hussy' you know!"  
  
Jak: *blinks and gives cheesy smile*  
  
Em & Kiz: Oh brother!  
  
Before my ethanol-entoxicated brain takes over I'll do some reviewer's responses.  
  
Shark: Angel..? No, no, no, no, nooooooo. That'd be too simple and easy and happy. I started out with angel too, but that would be too. well, she's not that good, really. It would be clichéish too. Then I thought of eagle, but a brown eagle hasn't got much to do with white eco. And besides it would be really pro-American and pro-German, and I'm neither. No offence, I'm just. not. And then I came up with griffin. Kind of in between angel and eagle. Divine, but still not The Divine.  
  
Nobinoir: I will.  
  
Kaza: Isn't it about time that we started talking contracts?  
  
Em: Yeah, or we'll go on a strike!  
  
Kiz: Uses her almighty writers powers to make them forget about what they just said. "You think I'm gonna pay you? NEVER!"  
  
Kaza & Em: What?  
  
Kiz: On to Rocker Baby  
  
Kaz & Em: Who?  
  
Suuuure I'll take you to France. Then I'll have the chance to 'seduce' another muse. (it rhymed!).  
  
BTW is it a compliment when you call me 'depressing'? (I know what you mean, just thought it would be funny to mention. Ha ha.)  
  
AmanDaxter: Thanks, and here is more. Hope you liked it.  
  
Phoe-chan: Better late than never, right?  
  
Oh yeah [*1]: Did you know that the beautiful red colour you find in a sunrise and sundown is caused by the atmosphere? Long story short: more pollution means a prettier and more intense red colour. Sad, huh?  
  
And that's all for now. Review! 


	7. Let's meet again sometime

Ok, so you seriously thought I'd only get fried once? Think again. To protect my dear, red feet I spend a whole day lying on my stomach. Sun hot, me red.  
  
Disclaimer: I only own what I made up, and then I borrowed the rest. You know who you are. Thank you!  
  
-----  
  
Chapter 7: Let's meet again sometime.  
  
[Jak is out of prison. Darksbane, Rockerbaby and I have three internally connected stories (if you haven't noticed by now), so I won't bother giving my explanation on how Jak got out. Just read RB's 'Other side of the mirror']  
  
"Why are we following him anyway, Jak?" The ottsel climbed from one shoulder to the other to get a better look at the man.  
  
"He might have some valuable information that could be of use. Now: keep quiet"  
  
"Keywords: might and could be. I'm tired! We've been following him all day! If he had something special we would have known by now. Come on, let's find a place to sleep." He was now hanging over Jak's shoulder ready to fall asleep on the spot.  
  
"Guess you're right, Dax, let's find a place to crash" He scratched the ottseæ under the chin to wake him up, and retired from his place, that had a great view of the square.  
  
"'Cause I'm right! That's what I'm here for" He was still hanging over Jak's shoulder, looking up at the boy, who was doing talking motions with his hand and giving him a grin.  
  
For a few seconds they were just looking at each other before bursting out into a silent laughter. The ottsel took his usual stance on Jak's shoulder plate and the twosome went down a nearby alley in the search for a place to spend the night. [A/N: Yes, this has a very high potential of getting misunderstood. Please don't!]  
  
"It looks closed, Buddy" It was the fifth place they tried out, "We have to get out of this part of town, it's crawling in Crimson Guards. It's a wonder we're still here!"  
  
"We have to try" Jak walked up to the door and tried the handle. The door was open. They entered a dimly lit room.  
  
"Welcome, what can I do for you?" A figure emerged from behind the bar.  
  
"We." Daxter's mouth was abruptly shut by Jak's hand  
  
"I am looking for a room for the night. The cheapest you've got'll be fine" The woman turned around before he caught a glimpse of her face.  
  
"I'll see what we've got and then we'll agree on a price, okay?" She was dressed all in black. Covered from knees to shoulders. Her boots were black as well, going up to where her trousers started.  
  
"All she needs is a hut and red eyes, and then we'd pray for the CG to come get us. Cree-py" After the comment Daxter shrugged as to highlight his hate for people hiding behind large amounts of black clothing. The woman went behind the bar and flipped open a large book. Jak walked up to her and leaned over the bar from the opposite site, looking at her fingers running down a list. Her dark-brown hair fell on a pair of fine shoulders, her skin (at least the skin not covered in black fabric) only showing a hint of the tan from last summer.  
  
"I have a." The waitress lifted her head and Jak looked directly into a pair of brown eyes, the left one being half green.  
  
After a minute of staring at each other she suddenly hugged him and burst out  
  
"Thank god, you're all right!"  
  
-----  
  
He woke up and found himself looking up at a wooden ceiling. The bed felt like his own bed. The sun fell through the window over on the drawer, his drawer. He could feel the weight of Daxter's furry body on his stomach. So this was just a bad dream...? Or...? He followed the white, bare wall over to where his insect-collection used to be. Bare wall. His fishing pole had been replaced with a gatling gun leaning against the wall. His gatling gun. His new life.  
  
It got less hard each time. But less hard doesn't necessarily mean easy.  
  
He sat up which made Daxter roll down on to the bed. The ottsel grumphed and curled up on the spot to keep sleeping.  
  
Disappointed? No, not really. He was disappointed the first time, but had gotten used to it. Sad? Kind of. He didn't really know what this world was about. When he knew, maybe he would stop dreaming about being home again. Or at least he hoped so.  
  
Hope is what you need the most when times are tough. One little sparkle to hold on to is enough at times. If you have a goal, you also have a sparkle. Hope and goal. Different, but somehow the same. Will you be my sparkle?  
  
Daxter's words popped out of nowhere. Most of the time he was his usual self, but sometimes, without warning, he would get all sentimental. He had his moments. They were few, but concentrated. A sparkle? The underground didn't really bring him anywhere. All he had now was to stay alive.  
  
"Already up?" He hadn't heard the door. Emaly's sarcastic words came with a smile. A smile of a friend. "I'll bring up some dinner for the two of you. The sun will soon set, and then you can sneak out if you want to."  
  
Jak grinned. Like himself she had changed a lot since he met her the first time. She looked like she had been working, honestly, ever since she came out. Her tan was almost gone.  
  
"How did you get out by the way?" He asked while looking for his clothes. She got a sad gleam in her eye, shook her head and looked down. For a moment he just looked at her standing there fighting against tears pressing their way up to her eyes. He immediately knew that she wasn't used to crying. She had changed a lot. She then took a deep breath and looked up, eyes red.  
  
"I'll get you something to eat"  
  
-----  
  
"I thought I could do it, Jak, but I can't" She was sitting on the edge of her bed, ready to break down crying. "I can do it if I just work all day, but every time I see someone I know I. I. Oh brother" The last two words were mere whispers before tears started rolling down her cheeks. He put an arm around her, which only made it worse.  
  
"Hey, it's ok" His soft voice trying to calm her down with no luck  
  
"No it's not ok! All my life I've wanted to change. To be nice, do honest living, but now that I finally am, I can't. I can't do it. I can't take it. I feel so fragile. I'm afraid of screwing up. I'm. me. The me that has always been inside. I'm no use in this world"  
  
"Aren't you being a little hard on yourself?"  
  
"What's the point in living when you just do harm and then you die?"  
  
"You could always kill the bad ones"  
  
"You don't understand. I should just kill myself and get it over with; I can't change anything anyway!"  
  
"You could at least try"  
  
"Believe me, I tried. I should have killed myself a long time ago, but I just can't. What's the point in killing an undead? (sighs) I should have made Morion shoot me. (She fists her hands and anger overwhelms her) I didn't know the eco was hid with my feelings (Calms down and begins to sob) I didn't know I wanted to live." The last sentence came out as a whisper, but Jak heard it as if she had said it out loud. Mentally she had killed herself years ago, but now she wanted to live again; to live once more, but the years of being dead had put a heavy weight upon her. He received her embrace with much warmth and stroke her mat hair. She looked up and he looked deeply into her eyes to see them be filled with tears.  
  
"Oh, come on lady! I'd rather go on a date with Samos than listen to your whining! It's depressing! You're making a graveyards sound fun! (points to Jak) I never said that. YOU HEAR ME NEVER!"  
  
Jak giggled, but soon after returned his attention to the girl.  
  
"No, he's right. I am bloody depressing. It's just the constant fear of getting caught. I still hear Morions voice yelling 'Shit, she got away. What are you standing there for? Go get her. NOW'. Whenever people look at me I can't help to think if they think about turning me in for a reward. I haven't been outside for half a year! It's a prison. Help me out, please?" She had partly regained her composure, maybe realizing what she was actually doing.  
  
"You could always join the rebels, babe, but you should watch out for Torn. MAN, he's like a haemorrhoid that never goes away" A synchronic 'yeah' came from both elves.  
  
"You know him?" Jak was a little surprised of how a girl that never got out could know people form the underground.  
  
"Sure, before I got caught I used to run errands for some of the Rebels. Never got involved though. Didn't like being chased by the authorities for organized crime. Just enough to be with them without being one of them." She calmed down as she spoke and Jak could feel strength return to her body. She got up and walked to the door with her head held high and neck cocked, proud as always. As she turned her head to speak her reddish eyes were the only thing telling she had been crying.  
  
"Thanks for making me realize, Jak. I never was the good guy. See you back at base." She left him smiling. He picked Daxter up by the waist and placed him at his usual spot on his shoulder-plate, then climbed the few stories down to the dark street below him.  
  
-----  
  
He never really saw her around the rebel base afterwards. Something must have made her change her mind.  
  
"Jak, Torn wants to see you right now. He seemed pissed"  
  
"When doesn't he?" As he turned around he could see something pink disappear behind a corner. Now he just had to find Daxter. He wouldn't even consider stepping into Torn's office alone. After a while he found the ottsel lying on a pile of (not so) clean (any longer) clothes. So typically him, and Jak always got the blame.  
  
"Up, Dax. Kei said Torn wanted to see us right away"  
  
"How long ago?" He stretched his lazy body and made the pile get out of balance and fall.  
  
"I don't know. 10 minutes?" He began rearranging the clothes, trying to dust off all the reddish hairs left by the ottsel.  
  
"Let's give him five more and he'll be well done" Jak rolled his eyes, but sat down next to his friend to wait.  
  
-----*****-----  
  
WARNING: this paragraph might contain offensive writing. I'll have Kaza sum up afterwards. Kaza: What if I don't wanna read it? Kiz: Too bad, you have to *giggles*  
  
"You made it out too, I see." She was pretending to be only slightly annoyed of his habit of showing up and waltzing in without notice.  
  
"Of cause. You were a bit hard to find this time round. Changed your looks too, I see." He stoked her hair thinking about what made her change her mind. 'short hair means independence'. He used to complain and she only cut it even shorter.  
  
"Yeah, I did. Why did you come to see me?" He was making himself comfortable in a chair with a glass of wine.  
  
"Just wanted to see how you were doing. If you made it out all right" she walked to the window facing the street.  
  
"No, I mean: why do you keep coming back?" Her words came out softly  
  
"Cause I want to see how my baby's doing. Is that illegal?" He smirked at her  
  
"Karlos." She turned to him. She never knew what to do when he was around.  
  
"Why that tone, baby. Aren't you happy to see me?" He pulled her away from the window and on to the middle of the floor  
  
"What if I say no?" She looked him in the eyes, and he stroke her cheek softly  
  
"Then I'd know you'd be lying" He leaned in and kissed her. She just stood there and welcomed his loving embrace. She both hated and loved him. She couldn't resist him. In her apathy she could feel his hands untying the string holding her trousers together, kissing her neck.  
  
"Why, you don't even love me."  
  
He chuckled "This isn't love and you know it. Isn't my passion enough for you?" He kissed her collarbone and pushed her on to the bed.  
  
"Will you stop taking advantage of me when I'm not in love with you any more?"  
  
"IF that ever happens I'll have to take you by force. Or I'll threaten to tell the crimson guards where you are. Or bounty hunters. You know there's a big price on your head.? Speaking of crimson guards: I should get a little alliance going with them. It might be of use for both parts. And hell for you."  
  
"I hate you"  
  
"Cause you do. That's the fun of it. And anything else would be stupid." He stroke back all the hair from her face and kissed her forehead. "Yes, and alliance. Then I'll send them after your precious rebels. A stab in the heart. Target: home base. And you'll tell me where it is"  
  
"Isn't torturing me enough any more? Why are you so evil?"  
  
"Because. That's how I am. And you bring out the worst in me" His weight held her down. She could feel him undoing his belt buckle. She kissed him and took her arms around him. She had very few weaknesses, why did Karlos have to be one of them? How could she save herself, not to mention the rebels? Do something unexpected. Work with him? She had to try. Know your enemy. (Add: go see 'the believer' right now!)  
  
"Just one thing. They're not to harm a guy named Jak"  
  
"Why not, what's so special about him?"  
  
"He's different, he won't go to hell like the rest of us"  
  
"Oh yeah, I just forgot. Your little death obsession. It sure has been a long time, honey"  
  
Working with Karlos would be tough, but she hoped it would be worth it.  
  
-----*****-----  
  
Another chapter finished. Kaza, do your thing  
  
Kaza: Yer just LOVE ta say that, right?  
  
Kiz: Yup  
  
Kaza: *sighs* Ok, last paragraph sum-up: Emaly gets seduced by Karlos cough, the bastard, who says he wants an alliance with the CG so he can attack the rebels. Emaly decides ta go with him so she might help the rebels that way round. Don't yer sense a conflict?  
  
Kiz: Thanks Kaza, what's next on the schedule?  
  
Kaza: Yer spell yer name wrong.  
  
Kiz: No I don't! I gave myself this name!  
  
Kaza: *tabs keyboard*  
  
Kiz1: Noooooooo! I don't want to be called 'kiz1'. If I am suddenly called #37029457 aka Kiz, it's a protest. *tabs keyboard, but only manages to get the names screwed up*  
  
Kazalphabet: The label says 'not for children less than 3 years'. Dummy!  
  
ixz1: Sorry *tabs keyboard again. Even worse result*  
  
Kebab: Yer should probably do the reviewers responses before it gets out o' hand.  
  
Pixel_1: Good idea, because it definitely isn't out of hand now.  
  
Amandaxter.  
  
Pixel_1: Not so much Dark Jak in this chap. This is the let's-build-up-a- conflict-chapter. There's going to be some DJ ('play da funky music white boy'.) in the next chapter. I wrote half a page in France.  
  
Kebab: In other words she's telling yer ta review so she'll write it faster.  
  
Pixel_1: Shut up or I'll make Jak roast you over a very, very hot fire.  
  
Kebab: Umm, DeusExDreams!  
  
Pixel_1: Rockerbaby!  
  
Kebab: DED  
  
Pixel_1:RB! *uses writer's powers to make Kaza call her RB too*  
  
Kebab: Next is. Rockerbaby  
  
Pixel_1: I think you missed the internally connected part. What I am doing is internally connecting them. Kei's in this one.  
  
The "don't ever fuck with dark Jak" is a quote from a Swedish movie called 'kopps' (cops). There is this one man, who thinks he's a super-cop and says "don't ever fuck with Benny the cop" a lot. Really fun movie!  
  
And Nora. I'm currently reading about the French revolution in history- class. You could always join me there.  
  
Kebab: STOOOP! Isn't one stolen muse enough for you?  
  
Pixel_1: nope.  
  
Kebab: *sighs* Nobinoir.  
  
Pixel_1: I quote RB: "She must write more so I can learn from her dark, depressing ways..." So I actually misunderstood it on purpose.  
  
Kebab: Shark1  
  
Pixel_1: Just Shark. I guess she suffers from the same "1"-disease as me. Poor you!  
  
Thanks! Weeee, I'm a good writer AND funny, weeeeeee! It's kind of weird though. The best essay I have ever written was about how I couldn't write a story. I ended up mixing two stories together. Only three pages. I read it the other day when cleaning up. Good stuff if I must say so.  
  
BTW: When are you going to update something? Soon? Like, now? Please?  
  
Kebab: Uh-oh a NEW reviewer.  
  
Pixel_1: Hi, Miss Aubrey Wilson! Maybe. Maybe not. I don't think so, but I might invite Nora over here some day (rockerbabe's muse) and things might change. Example: I started out with Emaly being the tough one and now she's a loon. It's much more fun writing.  
  
Kebab: Let's stop her before she gets really sadistic. Phoe-chan.  
  
Pixel_1: I don't get sadistic, I am. Joking. Haha. You hate logging in too? Well then, I'm not alone!  
  
The little errors and stuff. Honestly, after I came home from France I haven't really bothered re-reading chapters more than once. *Starts wondering what happened to her perfectionism after she started high school. A well deserved vacation, maybe? *  
  
Anyway, a not-so-actionny chapter, but more action coming up. Yer know: accumulation. And soon if you .  
  
Kebab: review! An' maybe I'll get ma' name back too.  
  
Pixel_1: Not before I get mine, muahahahahahaha..  
  
Jak: Stop the insanety, leave a review  
  
Pixel_1: Or even better: Make it continue. Leave two! 


	8. Jak, Jak and Dark Jak

Narrator: When we left our two friends Kiz and Kaza they were in the middle of a name-crisis because of Kiz's lack of skills with a computer and a keyboard.  
  
Pixel_1: HEY!  
  
Nar: Kiz feels offended by my statement, but ignoring her I continue with a sum-up of the storyline:  
  
Jak is now out of prison and lives a relatively stabile life. Emaly on the other hand has a major identity-crisis and has decided to join the crimson guard in order to prevent Karlos from annihilating the rebels.  
  
Pixel_1: You do know that 'nar' means something like 'jerk' in Danish, right?  
  
Narrator: Ahem, when we left Jak Torn wanted to see him. That will be where we start.  
  
Pixel_1: Aren't you forgetting something?  
  
Narrator: Question not understood  
  
Kebab: He's useless let's fire him  
  
Pixel_1: Good idea, you're fired!  
  
Narrator: BUT!  
  
Kebab: Yer heard the lady, GO!  
  
Pixel_1: I only own what I own, other people own the rest. (For example Naughty Dog.)  
  
*Something enters through the cat-door*  
  
Kebab: YER INSTALLED A CATDOOR?  
  
Pixel_1: Well, yeah. Hi Nora!  
  
Nora: Vous are a zneaki personne! And a meanie too. Vous traded moi for a cameo for Alex. *sobs* Moi have become sheep.  
  
Pixel_1: Err, I think she means cheap. Don't worry Nora, I'll return you after this chapter.  
  
Nora: Iz that really true?  
  
Kebab: Don't be too sure. Yer might get a new name in the progress as well.  
  
Pixel_1: HEY! *mutes both muses with funny accents* Shut up you two. Let's get on with the story, ok?  
  
-----  
  
Chapter 8: Jak, Jak and. Dark Jak (A/N: Guess who's going to be in this chapter. Jak. Surprise. or not)  
  
"Take a deeeeeeeep breath, Jak, we're going in!"  
  
"What took you so long!? I have important things to discuss with you! Close the door" Jak gulped and a 'shit' could be heard from his shoulder. Torn sat down behind his table and looked at a sheet of paper before handing it over to Jak  
  
'Dear Alex. I found your muse in my room. She is safe and sound. I will return her asap. Sincerely Kiz' Jak read the note "What's this supposed to mean? Who's Alex and Kiz?"  
  
"Probably a couple of loons." Torn send Daxter a death-glare that made him shut up  
  
"This is a coded message, dummies. It means that someone has found something and is going to bring it back to base." Torn explained  
  
"And what is this something then?" Jak handed the note back to Torn  
  
"Dark eco" Jak gulped and Daxter started looking from Jak to Torn to Jak at very high speed, making him dizzy. Torn grinned viciously  
  
"We have informers you know." Jak's palms got sweaty. Torn just broadened his smile.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about" Jak stood up and rushed to the door.  
  
"Yes you do! Stay in here!" Jak didn't listen, but stormed out of the room and began running. No specific direction except away from the mad man. Daxter just buried his claws deep into Jak's jacket and held on for dear life.  
  
"FUCK! Kill. Torn. Kill. Fucking. Informer. Kill. Self" Jak said between pants, as he lay exhausted on the ground in some closed subway tunnel.  
  
"I get the kill Torn part, but what's with the fucking dark eco!?" Daxter screeched out and started walking away "I thought we agreed that we'd stay away from that. icky ooze" Jak sighed and sat up  
  
"Atticus" He mumbled. "They did things"  
  
"So fucking what, psyko? Dark eco? You outta your mind!?" For once, Daxter sounded serious. Paranoiac as always, but serious none the less.  
  
"No Torn is, I don't know what he bloody wants me to do with it" Daxter scuffed and walked on. He had made it some hundred metres away and almost around a corner. For a second he peaked around it and then came running back in a hurry.  
  
"Uh-oh. Code red code red!"  
  
"Shit, what now? Metalheads?" Jak raised himself as quickly as he could. He was really exhausted from all the running  
  
"No, dammit, TORN. Run for your life. He's on a zoomer!" Jak gave an annoyed snarl as he realized there weren't any exits nearby  
  
"Come on, let's just ignore him" Jak started walking in the opposite direction. Daxter tried to catch up with him on all four, but Torn reaches Jak first  
  
"You got pretty far."  
  
"Shut up and leave me alone" If he hadn't been that tired we would have run further. He would have to confront him anyway.  
  
"I won't and you have to come with me" Torn got off the zoomer and took out the keys. Jak just kept walking  
  
"No"  
  
"Yes. Now listen and listen good, boy. This is your chance to get back at him. Hit him with his own weapon. I know you want to." Jak grumphed. Torn always knew how to persuade people to what he wanted them to do. Jak looked over his shoulder to see a red tail hanging out if the zoomer's engine. Then walked on  
  
"It is an offer," Torn continued  
  
"Hell it isn't" Jak turned to face Torn who was an annoying bit taller than him. Torn lifted an eyebrow. Jak growled and walked back towards the zoomer that still had a tail. Luckily Torn didn't notice. He just stayed back.  
  
"Go to Echo and Tia. They'll know what to do." Suddenly Torn noticed the new addition to his zoomer "GET YOUR RAT OUT OF MY ENGINE" Daxter quickly fled from Torns wrath as he approached the zoomer.  
  
"Err, sorry. He does that by himself" Jak explained while Torn made a mental note to NOT let Daxter near anything ever again.  
  
"I'm not a rat" Daxter muttered when climbing up on Jak's shoulder  
  
"You're dirty" Jak stated as he saw the oil in Daxter's fur  
  
"And you, my friend, haven't had a proper bath in weeks"  
  
At that moment another zoomer made it round the corner. It came to a halt and a white and green haired girl jumped off. Both men (and an ottsel) looked at the odd mix of colours.  
  
"Hydrogen peroxide, minor accident" Torn just nodded  
  
"Jak Kiz, Kiz Jak. Take him to Echo and Tia" Torn just turned on his heel and walked back to his zoomer and looked into the engine to get a survey of the damages  
  
"Righto then. Jak, hop on." The girl got back on her vehicle and moved a little to the front to make room for the extra passenger. "Good thing this baby was build for fat people"  
  
"Like Krew," Daxter coughed and thereby earning himself a slap in the back of the head.  
  
"Who are Echo and Tia?" Jak was getting rather curious. The girl sped up the zoomer and soon the walls were in a blur.  
  
"Oh just two scientists. Crazy, but they know their stuff. Trust me"  
  
"Then who did this to you, babe?" Daxter nuzzled her soft hair  
  
"Kiz, not babe." That was all she managed to say before nearly swooning over the massage he was giving her hair  
  
"Hey watch it!" If it hadn't been for Jak's quick reflexes they would have driven directly into a roadblock in the tunnel. He quickly turned the vehicle and made it stop.  
  
"Sorry, but massages always gets the better of me and." Daxter continued a little. If she had been a cat she would have purred, but she was only an elf so she moaned softly. Jak dug into her hair and pulled out a smiling Daxter  
  
"Daxter, leave her alone until the ride is over. Kiz, You have now gained a pain in the butt AND flees" Jak was trying to be serious, but couldn't help smiling over the fact that the girl had such an easy weakness to take advantage of. She just smiled at him and he couldn't help but to smile back. Daxter grinned and the ride continued.  
  
"Ok, hold on we're going at full speed. " They had reached street-level and was heading home, or so Jak though. While running away Jak hadn't noticed exactly how far he had gotten, but judging from the length and speed of the ride until they reached the part of town, that he knew, he hadn't been wasting his time.  
  
"We're here" Kiz abruptly stopped the zoomer in front of a big warehouse and thereby sending Daxter to crash-land against a wall with a thud. After e second he peeled off and landed on the ground with another thud.  
  
"Ouch"  
  
Jak on the other hand held on for dear life. The only problem was that he was holding her waist and the extra strong grip squeezed out all the air in her lungs with a cracking sound. A grimace froze on Kiz's face.  
  
"Sorry, we'll have to look at that" Jak lifted her off the zoomer, opened her leather jacket and tried pressing different places around her rib-area  
  
"Note to self: Never again. Aïïe"  
  
"Bingo" Jak had in one move found the injury and moved the rib back to its original place  
  
"Thanks, but no thanks, babe" Daxter's voice came from behind some trashcans and as he walked out into clear view of the other two Jak couldn't help but to laugh.  
  
"Let me guess: oil from Torns zoomer, dust from that wall over there with your silhouette on it and dirt from the ground?" Jak mused  
  
"Not dirt, it's smelly might-have-been-food-once-but-sure-isn't-now trash" Jak tried to hold back laughter as Daxter looked at his now grey, brown and greenish fur.  
  
"Don't worry fuzzy, I'll give you a bath" Daxter tensed at the name, but realized actually how much he needed a bath at the moment and began nodding  
  
"Yeah, yeah whatever"  
  
Kiz walked over to a panel on the side of a big door in the warehouse, typed in a few numbers and got an alarming bleep from the panel.  
  
"Stupid piece of crap! I typed the password correctly!" She tried typing again, but got the same result. She then hit the panel and surprisingly the doors slid open. Jak got on the zoomer, ready to drive it in so it wouldn't be stolen.  
  
"Hi Kiz, thought it might be you. Not many burglars swear at the lock. Oh, Hi" The girl in the door nearly screwed off her head just to follow Jak on the zoomer as he rode it inside.  
  
"Habba, habba"  
  
"Calm down Tia, mind fixing a bath for. that while I keep Echo from assaulting Jak?" Kiz walked inside, hoping to find Jak before 'Echo' did. She didn't, but luckily Echo was paralysed in a very unlucky position. Kiz walked over to her and closed her mouth with a finger on the jaw.  
  
"Miff Bunny." Her eyes widened as he walked closer to the two girls, but she quickly snapped back to reality. "You must be Jak, I'm Echo and that's Tia"  
  
"Can't yer walk yerself!?" Tia was trying to get Daxter to stay on the ground while he was trying to get a ride. A dirty trail on her trousers marked where he had tried to move up.  
  
"She's fine now, I'll take care of the dirty one" Kiz explained to Tia as she grabbed Daxter by the waist and placed him in her shoulder. Daxter formed 'I like her' with his mouth and pointed to the now dirty girl. Jak just shook his head and turned his attention to the two other girls.  
  
Both girls' eyes glimpsed for a second before looking down at their papers.  
  
"Experiment 5768" Echo started  
  
"No, no that was the thing that ended up in Kiz's hair. It's this one," Tia help up a brown envelope with a seal on it. Both girls went 'Uuuuu' before ripping it open.  
  
"So he's."  
  
"I think so." Both of them were getting very exited. In fact a few 'squeals' could be heard as they read through the papers from the envelope.  
  
"Err. I'm what?" Jak tried to take a sneak peak at the papers, but that just made the girls keep them even closer to their bodies  
  
"You're our experiment"  
  
"We get to do what we want to you" Both girls giggled.  
  
"What do you want to do with him Echo?"  
  
"I don't know Tia, what do you say. Let's run some tests?" They both suppressed a laugh.  
  
"This way."  
  
"Don't be shy."  
  
"We don't bite."  
  
"Much." Jak rolled eyes at the two.  
  
"In here!" Tia showed him into a small room "It's on the table. Don't keep us waiting."  
  
"Oh brother, now they want me to change clothes?" He mumbled before obeying them.  
  
A light blue catsuit lay on the table. Jak mumbled something along the lines of 'horny chicks' before putting it on. Through the wall he could hear Kiz and Daxter arguing over the temperature in Daxter's bath.  
  
"FINE! Stay like that, FOREVER" Kiz screamed and Jak heard a door slam. As he left the room three females were peeling off the catsuit with their eyes, mouth wide open. Jak sighed. 'Note to self: Never again. No more crazy scientist-chicks for me'. Kiz started pointing in different directions before pointing towards the room with Daxter in it and going in there. Echo pulled herself together and became scarily calm:  
  
"Good to see it fits you." Tia got back to the real world with a slap in the back of her head  
  
"Ouch. Ok, let's connect the damn thing. And while we're at it: NOT SO FUCKING HARD!"  
  
"Tia. He's hot. You looked stupid." Echo's voice was just so low that Jak couldn't hear it  
  
"Yeah, but he's also taken" Daxter had obviously heard their little conversation. Kiz was tapping her foot in the doorway.  
  
"Huh?" Echo looked almost offended  
  
"Well, what can I say, babe. He sure isn't mumbling your name in his sleep, is he?"  
  
"Then who!?" Synchronically, from both girls.  
  
"Phay, that's all I can tell you" Daxter was not good at being secretive, but he got saved by Jak's inpatient 'Ahem' and Kiz's iron grip around his waist. "Help." A soapy smell filled the air.  
  
"Echo. Connect. Catsuit."  
  
"Ok, ok. Just let me enjoy the sight for a few seconds."  
  
"Three days later, status quo. Come on!" Tia was getting rather impatient and signalled Jak to follow her to a big blue circle drawn on the ground. The diameter was around 5 metres and inside the circle the concrete floor was replaced with some kind of metal.  
  
"This suit is constructed to measure pulse, blood pressure," Tia continued, "heart rhythm, stroke volume, respiratorical reserve volume, inspiratorical reserve volume, breathing frequency, blood type, blood stream to specific areas, shut up Echo, muscle mass placement and changes in placement, composition of muscles. And if you wear these, we'll also be able to measure stuff on your eyes" She held out a pair of goggles  
  
"You just have to stay inside the circle." Echo added, feeling very smart. Jak put on the goggles. Perfect fit surprisingly.  
  
"This special metal plate made out of. well, we don't exactly know. It reflects. no. Ok, it helps us gather the information." Tia smiled. Jak was very close to asking her to repeat what she just said, but agreed with himself that it was Daxter's job to be the annoying one.  
  
"So step on ladies and gentlemen, we're connecting." Echo ran over to a nearby machine and started tabbing the keys; making numbers, signs and text appear on its screen. Tia left Jak inside the circle. Jak could feel electricity run in the metal plate as well as in his suit. Above the centre of the circle, about 4 metres over it, was a big metal ball hanging from the roof in a chain. Lots of wires went from inside the ball and in to the machine Echo was typing on. Crackling noises blended with the voices herd in the room. Amongst those voices was Daxter's saying:  
  
"Aww, do I have to?"  
  
Confirming bleeps came from the machine near Echo.  
  
"Receiving information." Tia was speed-reading a note that was printed directly out of the machine. "Holy shit!"  
  
-----  
  
Ok Nora, you can go home now  
  
Nora: Wee *goes to the door* Hey Kizz, ze catdoor won't open  
  
Pixel_1: Oh it's because it's one way; you can only enter. Hmm I'll try to open it for you *tabs control panel* Damn *tabs it again* Sorry Nora, I can't  
  
Kebab: Surpri-ise.  
  
Pixel_1: Oh shut up  
  
Jak: Here let me help. *uses charm to open up the catdoor*. Voilá, ouvert.  
  
Nora: zee ya! *Leaves*  
  
Pixel_1: Wow, how'd you do that? Uh, Hurry, close it again; I don't want Kaza to leave  
  
Kebab: Aww, man!  
  
Jak: Sure *uses charm to close catdoor from the inside* There you go.  
  
Pixel_1: While you're at it, would you mind changing our names back to normal? Remember I'm NOT kiz1, just kiz. Beware, I have the power.  
  
Kebab: To what?  
  
Pixel_1: Just shut up and let the man finish all right!  
  
Kebab: Inspirational reject!  
  
Pixel_1: That was so Darksbanes line and besides you can't say that. Jak?  
  
Jak: Whatever she says. *Uses charm to get kiz and Kaza their names back*  
  
Kiz and Kaza: *squeal and do happy dance*  
  
Jak: I'll do the reviewers responses while they dance around.  
  
AD, Phoe-chan, AD and NN (two people, three reviews. Nice. Almost like a sale) Thanks for the reviews. Everyone likes me *smiles to the spotlight, but it moves away* HEY!!  
  
Kiz: I'll take it from here. *spotlight goes on Kiz*  
  
RB: You like what I did to you? Aye? Ok, I went behind your back and added Darksbane as well. Hey, I have her muse already; I owe her! And then I went behind everybody's backs and added myself. Hehe, I'm mean, I know. But I deserved it. Err. Sure I do. NEXT!  
  
Kaza: *grumbles* Selfish. Mean. Backstabber.  
  
Kiz: HEY!!! Don't you dare!!  
  
Kaza: *sticks out tongue*  
  
Kiz: *Strangles Kaza, but realizes she needs him alive* SHIT! *Revives Kaza*  
  
Kaza: Whoa, what happened?  
  
Kiz: Err, nothing.  
  
Shark. Let's start 'the number one clan'. I'm in it until someone *coughs really loud*  
  
Kaza: Hint taken, HINT TAKEN!  
  
Kiz: .inspires me to get a new name. Anyways, the Emaly/Karlos was well. read next chapter. That isn't up yet. stupid me. Besides, it would be too easy if it was 'just' Jak or Sig, right? I actually started out with Jak, but that's a long story.  
  
Still waiting for your new story.  
  
Nobinoir: Sorry for freaking out on the mail. I just got really mad and needed to let out some steam. Sorry. It was either that or killing the guy who invented messenger, and since I don't' know who the [bleep] he is. Well, sorry. You were just nearby. I'm usually not like that!  
  
Well, I am the first to even give a hint to sex in this forum. I'm revolutionary. I also started on 'Glimpses'. Not a real story. And not much to read. YET! But once I get it going you will know what I mean by postmodern. I just need new batteries for the muse and I'll be.  
  
Kaza: I'm NOT battery-driven!  
  
Kiz: Well, I just located the problem.  
  
Kaza: [bleep]  
  
Kiz: [bleep] yourself!  
  
Darksbane: Recognize yourself? Like it? Mmm?  
  
I need to ask a favour. Can I help you write the part where Karlos dies? I really feel like killing him, and you say that I'm good at writing him. PLEASE? Then I'll. give you a. a. used 25 years old Danish-French Dictionary, or. a. small bottle of hotel-shampoo. What do you say? I know you can't resist this magnificent offer.?  
  
Kaza: It's Darksbane, the numbskull  
  
Kiz: Or I'll give you a bottle of skull-softener shampoo.?  
  
Ok, how did you guys like my all-Jak chapter? Don't worry I don't plan on making an all-Emaly chapter next time. There's still a lot to write on the- crazy-fangirls-experiment-on-Jak. thing.  
  
Kaza: Now she wan't yer ta review  
  
Kiz: Please? Then I might not make another cliff hanger. might not. 


	9. Expect the unexpected

Last chapter was sort of a little comic relief. After uploading it I found that it lacked a lot of my ordinary writing style. I'll try to make up for it in this chapter. I just really needed to write something that was not about sagas. I had this essay that took sooooo long to write. Including an hour between 2AM and 3AM, weeee! Or not.  
  
I decided to let 'Glimpses' rest until I had some more of it. I seriously thought I would be able to finish it quickly (I have it in my head, but I can't get it down on paper grrr), but alas: The fucking saga + what my other teachers thought of, of "funny" things, got me. They tackled me from behind, I cursed and started doing all sort of other things  
  
Kaza: Stupid you  
  
Kiz: For once you're right.  
  
Kaza: Next chapter?  
  
Kiz: Sure, go ahead; inspire me.  
  
Kaza: Ok, yer have a cliffie ter finish and two people joining the CG.  
  
Kiz: I do.? Ok  
  
Kaza: She owns nothing. Not even herself  
  
Kiz: Probably not, and I guess it's for the best.  
  
Kaza: I own the poem thing  
  
Kiz: No you don't, I made it up. Hope you like it.  
  
-----  
  
Chapter 9: Expect the unexpected  
  
Two figures walked through the portal to the Crimson Guard HQ. Both a little tense, but still with a smile on their lips.  
  
"You know I won't keep any promises," The blue-haired man said while broadening his smile  
  
"Since when did you start doing that?" The girl next to him mused.  
  
"I don't like your tone" He ranked up as they passed a legion of CG  
  
"Why not?" She just kept smiling that secretive smile he hated  
  
"You're too happy. You're hiding something" He stopped and looked her deeply into the eyes  
  
"Why shouldn't I be?" She pecked him on the cheek and walked a little head of him, looking for the right building. He just looked at her walking, wondering what she was up to.  
  
"May I help you?" An orange haired, dark tanned woman wearing the CG uniform had made her way up next to the blue haired elf.  
  
"Who says I need help?" She gave him a knowing glare and smirked  
  
"Well then. Tell you friend that new appliers for the Crimson Guard should go to that blue house, and keep out of the commanders' section. She might get shot or something" She turned on her heel and vanished behind a corner before Karlos even noticed her missing presence.  
  
"Emaly. Come here, I know the way" He turned around and looked for the CG, but couldn't see her anywhere. A hand in his hair brought his conscience back to their reason for being there. She nuzzled his hair a bit before rearranging it  
  
"There, now you're fit for the 'job interview'" She kept musing. He didn't like it when she was in that mood. She was definitely up to something.  
  
-----  
  
"So not true! Check again!" Tia's long, pale blue hair mixed with the endless amounts of papers on the table. Her icy blue eyes read and reread the papers numerous times, but got the same result every time. Meanwhile the black haired Echo was staring at the screen with the same results on.  
  
"Whatever happened to 'the flawless computer'?" Kiz stood in front of a large mirror that hung on one of the walls. Jak could see Kiz's icy blue eyes reflected in the mirror. She tried combing her green and white hair while looking at the other girls' reflections.  
  
"Too flawless to be true" Echo murmured to herself before taking a glance at Jak, who sat next to Tia and looked at a lot of numbers he couldn't make any sense out of. Her eyes were ice blue like the two others'. A darkblue ring around the light blue iris gave the impression of looking directly into a shooting target.  
  
"I got an idea" Kiz turned to the others "this might after all be true. Try rereading the experiment description" A moment passed by before anybody moved  
  
Tia got up from her papers and found the brown envelope on a shelf in the other end of the hall. Meanwhile Daxter climbed up to Jak's shoulder and started reading the printed papers.  
  
"Yo, scary chick. What's the norm for all these numbers?" The girl with the long, black hair sighed before turning to answer him  
  
"It varies. But usually around only half of what your friend here's body's capable of" She gave a final glance to the numbers on the screen before clearing it for another round of results. "But how!?"  
  
"Uh-oh, girlies come have a look at this." The blue girl sounded worried  
  
"What is it?" Kiz examined an especially white part of her hair  
  
"It looks like we're going to use that dark eco you dug up, sis" This caused Kiz to freeze  
  
"Kiz!!? God damn you! You're staying far away from that Torn guy next time, ok!?" Echo sounded like she was on the verge of exploding.  
  
"But." Their eyes met  
  
"Don't. Go near. The guy. OK?" Echo was now standing half a metre from the younger Kiz, pointing threateningly at her.  
  
"Geeze, sis. What's the matter? Besides 1: I was just doing some scouting and stumbled on the damn thing and 2: that kind of missions is far less hazardous than what you and Tia do here. Be glad it was the tank with hydrogen peroxide that exploded." Echo gave a look in Jak's direction before going into a hissing conversation with the green haired girl.  
  
"I knew this would happen" Tia gave an exhausted sigh  
  
"What would happen" Jak questioned  
  
"This," she gestured to the other two that were now standing forehead-to- forehead and Jak could almost see lighting spring from one eye to the other. "She can't accept the fact that Kiz can do things on her own. And quite good actually" Jak gave an understanding nod.  
  
"So, what now" Daxter interrupted.  
  
"Now, *sighs* we start. KIZ! ECHO! Stop the fighting, we've got things to do!" The two exchanged a last death glare before returning to their chores. Echo motioned Jak to step into the circle while Kiz went through one on the many doors that lead out of the big room.  
  
Jak put on his goggles and stepped into the circle while Echo connected the components. Tia scribbled down some random observations as she had done during the previous experiments as well. A little while after Kiz brought out a trolley from a room stuffed with boxes that had black and yellow patterns and warning symbols. When exiting the room she put something under the door to keep it open. Behind it was a room filled with the same boxes as she was carrying out.  
  
Results ran over the screen that Echo stood by. She would tab the keyboard and the screen shifted to a lot of graphs in development. Jak would run around a little and everybody would be content.  
  
Kiz placed some of the boxes just inside the circle and took off the lid. An unwelcome stench filled the air, which caused Jak to stop for a moment. He just looked at her with pleading eyes. She bit her lower lip and looked at the ground.  
  
"I'm sorry," She said with a sigh before swiftly unloading the trolley and going back to pick up some more boxes. Jak sighed heavily and shed a tear as the memories from Atticus swelled up inside. As the smell hit his nose, the ottsel quickly retreated to Jak's 'dressing room' and curled up in the pile formed by Jak's normal clothes.  
  
"Ok, ready?" Echo's voice as cold and cynical as her look. Her black leather skirt and black silk shirt along with her pale delicate skin made a sharp, fitting frame around her icy, piercing eyes.  
  
"Ready"  
  
-----  
  
"This must be it" Emaly chimed before entering through the door that said 'subscription'. Karlos followed her into a dull yellow room. Everything was in the same brown-yellow shade, even the floor.  
  
"Ah, you again" The woman from before seemed to come out of nowhere.  
  
"Yes, I believe we met" Their eyes met for a second  
  
"Mmm. What can I do for you?" A vicious smile formed on her lips  
  
"We want to subscribe," Karlos said calmly, hiding away his pride  
  
"So you do." She was beginning to greatly annoy Karlos with her better knowing attitude. "I'll get you the forms, take a seat" In the other end of the long room was four sets of a table and a chair. Emaly danced over to one and sat down to make herself comfortable, while Karlos walked sceptically over to a yellow chair and studied its shiny surface before taking a seat. At the same moment the woman re-entered the room, papers in hand. She casually walked over to them and placed the papers in front of them before leaving them again.  
  
"Excuse me? Can I at least know your name?" Karlos said in a sarcastically polite voice.  
  
"Joelle" Her voice was deep and threatening, showing a hint of annoyance. The two started on their papers while the orange haired elf measured Karlos with her eyes. A moment after she left the two alone.  
  
-----  
  
Suddenly it all came back to him. He remembered the straps and the needles, the gnawing buzz when the eco got in his veins. And he hated it. But most of all he hated the demon that was brought out by contact with it. He measured the amount of eco in the already opened boxes with his eyes. 'Hardly enough for a small chargeup'.  
  
"Just once, ok?" Was he that easy to read? Tia was on her way over to him. To comfort him?  
  
"Err, I just needed to clear my mind" He insured her. He felt like her eyes pierced their way through his skull an into his very being  
  
"You sure, you're ok?" That did it. A man has his pride.  
  
"I'm fine. Ready Echo?" She didn't even have time to answer before he stuck his hand down the ooze.  
  
The sight send three jaws against the floor and three pairs of icy blue eyes didn't blink for a minute. Meanwhile the computer spat out results on a long roll of paper that ended up in a pile on the floor.  
  
Suddenly the door was burst in. Numerous clicks of guns and rifles being loaded were heard. Jak quickly launched at the attackers while Echo ran over to get the papers with the last results to safety. Tia and Kiz ran into one of the numerous rooms in the building.  
  
The attackers, now recognized as CG, formed a line and started firering towards the approaching target. There were about 20 of them and the one that looked like their leader was medium height, greatly tanned and had orange hair.  
  
Bullets flew through the air, but a roll send Jak under the first volley and the following jump send him smashing into the middle of the line. Clawed hands dug deeply into two guards' throats and as he slung his hands free of the dead weight another two went down.  
  
A moment after Echo and Tia came to his aid. While the CG's were concerned about the demon attacking them, the two girls easily shot some of them down with a laser sight rifle and a pair of handguns. When the guards noticed them they quickly sought cover behind the table full of papers that Tia had previously worked at. The papers spread all around the large room as Echo tipped the table over and sprang to cover. Tia followed close after. Her pale blue clothes vanished between the white papers before seeking cover behind the table.  
  
Jak kicked the gun out of one guard's hands and smacked another one to oblivion with a punch. A kick in the stomach send yet another one rambling into the girl behind him. Just as he could feel the eco being close to used up he saw the trolley with dark eco boxes moving towards him and the surrounding ring of Crimson Guards. He grabbed the nearest guard and turned him face-forward before using him as a ram while bursting out of the ring of attackers.  
  
As he ran towards the trolley a bullet dig itself into his left upper arm, but he didn't really notice it. Every part of him was concentrated around reaching the trolley before his charge-up ran out.  
  
He didn't.  
  
As he grabbed for a box of dark life-energy another bullet hit him. It went in somewhere on his lower back and out right next to his navel and headed strait into one of the boxes, which exploded afterwards.  
  
A scream was heard as some of the eco hit Kiz. She fell to the ground and started twitching of the sheer pain of the gnawing acid on her skin. Jak opened another box in a hurry while the explosion startled the guards. Out of the corner of his eye Jak could see a couple of crimson guards making their way over to Tia and Echo's hideout.  
  
Time to think fast.  
  
He stuck his hand down the newly opened box and while regaining his demonic powers he burst open the other boxes with a few punches. He could feel the eco healing his wounds in no time. When he had gathered enough power he focused it and send out lightning-like rays of dark eco that hit every living being around him that wasn't behind cover.  
  
Everything went still for about five seconds. He had used up his entire chargeup on the deadly rays of energy. Then Jak saw the leading CG holding a singed Kiz up as a shield, panting, knife on her throat.  
  
"You, Blondie. Or her." The orange haired woman backed away in the direction of the blast open door. Tia and Echo came out from their cover and saw the situation. Echo was on the verge of explosion, but Tia kept her back  
  
"Let him handle this" Echo looked to and from her two sisters. Tia was probably right, but something told her that Kiz would die anyway. The CG only showed a poker face even after nearly trembling over a dead colleague.  
  
"Jak, don't" Kiz murmured. He could see that some of her skin had been fried by dark eco. A lot of her skin actually. She needed intensive care to survive that kind of exposure.  
  
"Come on, don't keep me waiting here. You just inject this into yourself and I'll let her go" She rolled a syringe over to him "And don't even think of trying to hit me with it. I'm immune" Jak picked up the syringe as the CG backed even further up to the door.  
  
"And what makes you think I trust you to keep your promise?" He could hear Kiz whimper a little, "I've heard that CG's are trained not to keep their promises, true?" He moved closer and closer to her, and she kept backing away. Dead bodies of CG's lay sprawled over the floor like cream from an exploded cream cake.  
  
"Because, stupid. I can't carry two at the time" Jak couldn't help but to smirk. But how was he going to get Kiz out of this alive? It didn't seem like the CG would let her go without a fight  
  
"Oh, so it is.?" He teased her while moving even closer, syringe in hand. "I thought you people were capable of doing everything?" A door screeched silently and a messy pile of dirty clothes moved through the battlefield over to a new safety.  
  
"Hmm, Maybe we are maybe we aren't" She did not sound as secure as she wanted. Her grip on Kiz got even harder causing her gasp for air. Echo and Tia were in the middle of a hissing discussion about the three others. With a nod they stopped and walked up to join Jak, occasionally tripping over a dead body. Three against one. Jak could see a nervous tick on the CG's face every one in a while  
  
"Come on, hand her over and nothing will happen" Echo tried  
  
"."  
  
"If you leave her now we won't kill you" The three started forming a half circle that the CG constantly tried to back out of. She only had the knife and a hostage. Her orange hair got caught by the air each time she turned her head to keep track of all three at one time.  
  
Time to play the cards right. Time to get out alive  
  
She backed out of the building and moved up to one of the parked zoomers.  
  
"My offer still stands. BACKUP, NOW" She had reached her zoomer, and it had a radio. Tia and Echo exchanged nervous glares.  
  
What to do?  
  
Suddenly Jak launched himself at the CG but she skid to the side and made him crash into the zoomer behind her.  
  
"You can't get me that easy" At that very moment a quadrille of two seated zoomers turned the corner two blocks away. Jak only noticed them before running up and grabbing both Echo and Tia around their wrists and dragging them into the lab.  
  
Before turning to run Tia saw a vicious smile on the CG's lips. Once inside Jak released his grip on the two and ran to get the zoomer. Tia ran into one of the rooms to get the most necessary things with her. Echo just glared back at the CG and saw her signal to the other CG to hold back where they wore while looking nervously in their direction.  
  
Tia re-entered the main room and started tapping on a panel. The roof made weird noises and shrieked as the sides slid open. As Echo kept a look out for sudden movements by the CG, Jak picked Tia up on the zoomer and he afterwards went for Echo. She saw a dark eco box tied to the front of the vehicle. 'Why not?'  
  
As the CG saw the roof skidding apart, anger crossed her face and Echo could see a 'shit' forming on her lips. Echo got up on the large zoomer and sat herself behind Tia, but kept looking back as Jak adjusted the altitude and started heading out through the roof.  
  
The CG leader moved her right hand with the knife over on the left side of Kiz's face and quickly pulled back. The green haired girl's head twisted to an unnatural angle and her limp body fell to the ground.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOO" Echo let herself fall off the zoomer and crash-landed on the hard concrete floor. She got up and drew out her dual handguns just as the eight new CG stormed the laboratory.  
  
"ECHO!?" Tia screamed at the top of her lungs  
  
"Run dammit! I'll take it from here" She started firering at the attackers in her rage "You'll regret messing with the Jenney-sisters!" Her shots had bought down a few of the CG, but just as the comment left her lips the first shots from the CG hit her unarmoured body.  
  
-----  
  
~Your feelings will be your death some day.  
  
They'll kill you, you know,~  
  
A body jerked back as the projectiles hit it in numerous places. Uniformed men and women ran even closer to the now fallen body pumping it full of lead.  
  
~But don't hide them away,  
  
That'll kill you too.~  
  
A flying vehicle exited the roof at the same moment, closely followed by a rain of bullets. In exchange a box containing a dark substance was dropped by the front rider, and drops of salty water by the second.  
  
~Just embrace your destiny  
  
There isn't much other to do.~  
  
The attackers just kept shooting, unaware of the approaching impact. Only one retreated from the shooting crowd.  
  
~Let it take you to places  
  
Let it bear you away~  
  
Only one survived.  
  
~Your path is already chosen  
  
There isn't much other to say~  
  
Meanwhile the second rider buried her head in the first's shoulder. The first kept a stern look on his face. Where to now?  
  
~Lay back  
  
Let love be your guide  
  
And let it bear you away~  
  
-----  
  
"Ah well. Guess you do learn something each day after all.?" He was really annoying at the moment.  
  
"." Her arm hurt like hell. Was it only broken?  
  
"What happened to the 'You need to brake my neck before I tell a shit, and then I won't be able to tell anything at all'-thing you used to say?" His voice teasing her. She shot him a venomous glare  
  
"They caught me unprepared" She snapped  
  
"The ever-so-great Emaly, caught at the wrong moment by people who new more about her than she liked.?" He teased  
  
"But at least I'm not the informer around here. I should have known you were in league with them" She smirked.  
  
He laughed  
  
"But you knew who you were dealing with, babe", with a finger he pushed her face up and made eye-contact "I'm the sneaky know-it-all around here. Don't try to take my place, 'cos you can't" Then he pusher lips against his, and she just let him kiss her.  
  
~Your path is already chosen  
  
There isn't much other to say.  
  
Lay back  
  
Let love be your guide  
  
And let it bear you away~  
  
-----  
  
Kaza: She finally finished the chapter  
  
Kiz: Err, good observation, I guess  
  
Kaza: Thankies  
  
Kiz: *sighs* Why do I even keep you?  
  
Kaza: Grrr. Ask the readers if they liked the chapter  
  
Kiz: No, you do it  
  
Kaza: Ok, did you like it? Please leave a nice review!  
  
Jak: I'll do the reviewers responses.  
  
Kiz: Since when did I hire you?  
  
Jak: Since I hired myself. Never mind  
  
Kiz: Ok  
  
Jak:  
  
AD, Shark, NN, Gleam* thanks for the reviews  
  
Darksbane: So you actually like what that crazy writer does to you?  
  
Kiz: Careful there, Jakkie  
  
Jak: Ok, sorry. I should say from Kiz *Kiz waves to camera* that she'll track you down in no time. She now has a country AND a first name.  
  
Phoe-chan: She blames EVERYTHING on the life-sucking Danish essay about sagas.  
  
Kiz: I'm serious, 25 people can't be wrong. It literally killed us *fakes choking death*  
  
Jak: HEY! I'm on. You're not *Kiz pouts*  
  
RB: Kiz says that you shouldn't kill her for dragging you down with her. I quote "Ok, jeg døde, men der manglede ligesom 'the final touch' før succesen var hjemme. Og så tænkte jeg: Ahaa, hvad med at vi lader den ene søster ofre sig for Kiz. Jep, jep, den snupper vi!" [A/N: It's just some babble. You didn't miss much, trust me]So you actually got an honourful death. She hopes you like it.  
  
Kiz: No more reviews?  
  
Jak: Nope  
  
Kiz: Make them leave more next time  
  
Jak: Ok *uses charm to make everybody leave at least one review* 


	10. Info channel part one!

Hi guys  
  
This isn't really an update, but a little notification for. whoever writes about Jak II at the present.  
  
This is a review from IGN.com. Read it all if you want, but I bolded a part of it. Just to let you know what I want you to know, if you know what I mean. (it's a good way down, so just keep scrollin')  
  
Lalalalalala - review  
  
Jak II takes place two years after the first game. Lest you have forgotten or simply never finished the first game, our two heroes jumped into a portal at the end of the first title, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and left the story open for a sequel, plain and simple. Two years later, our co-stars appear in the distant future, a dark, miserable metropolis, ruined and corrupt by several controlling factions, the biggest of course, by a creature simply known as the Baron. Within hours of their arrival, the baron's guards arrest Jak for no particular reason, place him in jail and there they experiment on him using dark eco. He is tortured like an experimental rat in a scientist lab. Finally proving his worth, Daxter springs Jak from jail and onto the streets they go.  
  
Jak is pissed off. No longer the mute, happy elvin dude from the first game ensconced in altruistic purposes, Jak's main raison d'etre is revenge. He's angry and he wants to find the Baron and kick his ass. His physical appearance demonstrates this transformation. His hair has lowered from vertical to laid back; he ears are lowered; he dons a goatee (a green one, dude); he's angry most of the time, and his facial expressions show it and even his body language exerts a similar dark karma. No big deal for most action games, but for a platformer? Remember, this is the house that happy- go-lucky Mario built, a squeaky clean, save-the princess fairy tale that ends with a kiss on the cheek from the princess.  
  
"Jak is motivated by revenge," said co-founder Jason Rubin. "He is angry, and he's been experimented on, and he's unable to control the dark powers that are contained within him. He seeks vengeance. That's a big departure from most platformers."  
  
While in jail, the experiments that were performed on Jak had a profound affect. In the first playable and scripted event in the game, the dark eco within Jak transforms him into a super-powerful, temporarily invulnerable creature that casts electro-static eco bolts upon his sorry enemies and pulverizes them within seconds. Seen with a Marvel Comic lens, he turns into an Eco-inflamed Hulk, a raging, unstoppable beast. And it's fun as all hell to play as Jak while powered up. The standard moves become four or five times more powerful and his thrusting, spin and summersault attacks are all deadly, deadly moves on first impact  
  
The story is all about Jak, thus the simple, focused title. Naughty Dog wanted to strip the sub-name, because most people never even remembered it and most of the testers were just calling the new game in production Jak 2 anyway, so it sort of became Jak II because not only was it the second in the series, but it really is Jak's story. But don't fret; the tiny, obnoxious one still plays up the comic relief. He still hangs onto Jak's shoulder, and for most of the game he pipes in with smart aleck remarks and obnoxious statements, overreacting for comic relief, trying to pick up on women (always unsuccessfully), and showing his undeniable lack of a backbone. The one big difference in this game is that you will indeed play as Daxter later on. Yep, he will be playable, though, Naughty Dog wouldn't show us that part yet. On a side note, I think it's hilarious that of all people (check that, things) to break Jak out of jail, it was Daxter!???! Who would have thought.  
  
Jak and Daxter are thus on the streets. They look around and learn that their world has been all but destroyed, and the metropolis they now reside in is a giant bubble, a Logan's Run distopia of sorts, that protects them from the outside world. They quickly meet an old man on the street, a wise elder that Jak speaks with directly. As players learn, many of the denizens in the city talk and interact with Jak, somewhat in the way the living, breathing denizens of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto III do. Also, the darker, murkier world was created to contrast the previously primary colored world they both inhabited.  
  
Another major pillar in this game is that Jak finds people who send him on missions. Yes, it sounds the same -- he collects 10 widgets and returns for a star, or a big gold coin, or something. But no, that's not what happens. He is set on missions that earn him keys to open other areas of the city, or items that are helpful or he meets people who give him weapons. (More on the weapons in a second.) He meets with an underground group called the Metalheads (no direct reference to Heavy Metal, by the way), who are amassing a powerful underground group attempting to over-throw the baron. Yet another difference in this game is that it's story-driven. Creative director Dan Arey explains it this way: "Jak follows a complete storyline. We have a massive script that drives him forward, and the events in the story coincide with his actions to push it to the next dramatic event."  
  
Unlike the first game, the story is the backbone behind all of the game's actions. His ability to complete missions opens up more areas, which fundamentally changes the game's basis. He no longer moves forward in the chase for more things to collect. "He can indeed collect things, be they items, weapons, eco, ammo, but they aren't crucial for the story to move forward," explained Rubin. "He can collect things is he wants, but he doesn't have to."  
  
After Jak progresses in the game a bit he realizes the old man he first met was walking with a young girl with whom he feels a small connection to, though he's not sure why. She is a prophet of sorts, and her goal is to reach a powerful artifact, which it turns out, the baron is also after. Later on in the game, their relationship is revealed more clearly. The first major half of the game is focused on attaining the artifact, and then the second half targets what its power implies and how to stop the Baron, who gets it, from using it for his own evil ends. Needless to say, the story behind Jak II is deep, involved and crucial to the game's development  
  
Now for some excellent new information that further sets this game apart from its predecessor. Jak II offers approximately 80 missions or thereabouts, giving players about 20-30 hours of gameplay the first time around. And, unlike the first, which could be finished in one day, it's long and not easy. Naughty Dog knows it made the first game too easy, and apparently wants this game to feel different. We could tell right away that it not only played with a harder difficult curve, but that it played differently in its structure. When you completed a mission, you return to the HQ for more missions. You don't just collect more items. Honestly, I kinda kept looking around more things to collect after reaching my first goal and a Naughty Dog employee said, "Yeah, now go back and do another one," and I said, "Oh, right." And then thought, "I do?"  
  
Jak II feels excellent. The same sharp sense of movement and control, intuitive moves and instant reaction guide his motions with an uncanny and apparently difficult set of moves to achieve. Naughty Dog makes it so easy to ignore all of the incredibly difficult technical feats it achieves, and it's only after playing other games do you fully appreciate what they're capable of doing. Jak has about three times the move he previously had. He has all the basic moves from before -- spin attack, summersault, thrust attack, etc. -- plus all of the moves he can perform while in dark eco super form, plus all of the moves he can pull off while using weapons. All of the animations coincide perfectly with these moves even at this early state (the game is due in fall 2003, probably in September or October). Already, Naughty Dog is ahead of the game.  
  
The weapons are entirely new for this game. Jak obtains four weapons in total, a handgun, shotgun, rifle or sorts, and a frickin' all-powerful, kick-butt minigun. The weapons essentially change everything about Jak II. What they do is take the platform game, under the premise of which the game starts, and transforms it into an all-out action-adventure game. The catch is that it never loses its platform roots. With shotgun in hand, serious physical obstacles pose a threat to Jak and Daxter's progress. Moving threaded screws, sinking platforms, hop-skip-and jump sections -- they're all still there; you'll even find the camera locking in and giving you some 2D side-scrolling locales replete with Jak's acrobatic bars, on which he performs double and triple flips.  
  
But when he lands back on the ground, with a weapon in his hand, the trouble starts. Remember in Jak and Daxter the scenario on the island, when Jak was trapped inside the coliseum of sorts, and the thug guys all swarmed out for about two minutes and attacked him non-stop? Naughty Dog had taken that scenario and quadrupled its presence in Jak II. With a weapon in his hand, Jak encounters swarms of enemies, five, 10, 20 enemies at a time, and he must blast them to bits or die trying. The weapons are awesome for at least two good reasons. Once you attain one, you don't lose it afterward. "Once you get a weapon, you have it for good; for the rest of the game," strained Rubin. "It's not like you use it for a particular mission that requires that one weapon, and then you never use it again. You have it for the rest of the game  
  
O-ho-ho-ho yes, my friends. Jak and Daxter transforms into Metal Slug, and it's all-out blasting mayhem. With a quick press of the Dpad, players instantaneously flip out another weapon and start blasting. Jak passes through several weapons testing grounds, which is where you see those 2D characters in the screenshots. That weapons test area challenges players with the shotgun. This shotgun, however, is different. It sends out a powerful bursting pulse that alters the air around it. The effect is similar to the gun blasts in Minority Report, wherein the wave blurs the air around it. The shotgun feels just awesome. It gives you that big blasting sound, and the shot hits your opponent and sends his flying backward with a shock and a jolt. It's equal to using the shotgun in Doom. Big, powerful and very satisfying indeed. Another amazing thing is that Jak can attack with his weapons. When up close, he can kick opponents, or whack them with the weapon, using the butt of the weapon to bludgeon them. The animation is uncannily smooth, but the actual gameplay creates a whole new dynamic, which is the constant and seamless switching between shooting and hand-to-hand combat.  
  
The list of new things, however, goes on. The streets of this new city are bustling with moving vehicles and denizens. It looks like a weird take on Grand Theft Auto III, but substituting in Naughty Dog characters and cities instead. And Naughty Dog doesn't deny that GTA hasn't an effect on its game. So, not only are there people walking around, there are vehicles everywhere, and yes, you can jak (pun intended) any vehicle you can see. That's right, and they all feel more or less like the anti-grav whatever-it- was-called ship from the first game. The vehicles take damage and blow up if you're not careful and you they cast you flying into the streets. The city isn't just bustling with innocents either; it's packed with police, the Baron's Crimson Guards. If you accidentally hit one while in a vehicle, or mistakenly shoot one, an infinite number of them are alerted and they'll swarm you, using powerful tasers to roust your ass.  
  
Another things make this different: You can elevate your vehicle while driving. With a touch of a shoulder pad, you can zoom down to street level or elevate up to a second story level. Chases become particularly harry when you have to switch from high to low while going as fast as possible to escape the guards. It's incredibly fun, and what's more, the framerate rarely takes a hit. This game is so damn fun. Last but not least, Jak also gets another vehicle, a hoverboard. And just like the weapons, once he has it, he owns it for the rest of the game. He can flip it out and perform tricks, flips, ollies, rails; there is a hefty sampling of tricks several of which he'll need to use to get extra eco or items.  
  
Visually Speaking  
  
Technically, Jak II is far more impressive. Jak and Daxter themselves boast about 12,000 to 15,000 polygons per character, which is about three to five times more than previously. If you look up close you can see the smooth qualities on Daxter's face and body. At any time in the game, you'll see dozens of characters moving about the screen, handfuls of vehicles moving about, and the day/night system running independent of your actions. The game is filled with more charcters than before too.  
  
Naughty Dog has added additional lighting sources to create more defined charcters and more shading to enhance the character's looks as well. The characters move with an incredible sense of motion, too, using excellent animations and with the game running at a near constant 60 FPS. Switching weapons is instant, and it looks instant. In general, the game looks bigger, more populated and busier. Having improved its own code from the first game, borrowing Insomniac's improved code, and incorporating Sony's San Diego Studios sound technology, Naughty Dog's code is very, very impressive even at this stage in the game. Jak II may also support Progressive Scan mode as well.  
  
All in all, Jak II may not be a revolutionary game, but at least for the platform genre, it's a break from the norm. Like Rare's Conker's Bad Fur Day, Jak II is a dark, still very funny game that retains its classic platform elements, but adds numerous new dimensions to the fold, pushing and reforming the genre, altering its shape into, well, a demented Mickey Mouse shape of sorts. It's the first game I've seen this year that I can point to and say, "Yes! That's a must-have, Triple-A title."  
  
No longer hiding behind primary colors and simple collecting missions, Naughty Dog is branching out with Jak II and giving gamers a dark, story- driven gem that might very well be remembered years from now. The team that once brought us the cautious 2 1/2D Crash Bandicoot doesn't seem so cautious anymore, and, I think it'll once again push the gaming bar to another level, upon which all other games in the closest genres will be judged  
  
Lalalalalala - end of review  
  
Uh-oh guys. I think we missed out on something there. The metalheads aren't the bad guys. Or are they? We won't know until the game comes out.  
  
Speaking of which, three of us have to finish your stories before then, right Alex and Ish?  
  
Speaking of Alex, GIMME BACK MY CHAPTER!!!! I want to update. Now! It is finished you know.  
  
Lalalalalala  
  
And if you see my brain layin' around in some gutter somewhere, e-mail it back, k? I kinda need it. I'm a bit hyper right now =weird. But who cares anyway? Not me.  
  
-kiz (the-all-in-one-word-woman) 


	11. Before the storm breaks

Hi guys, this chapter an onwards should be having no grammatical errors whatsoever. I hired people to fix the ones that occurred every once in a while *spotlight goes on Alex* *applause*  
  
Anyways, I forgot to revive myself from last chapter *revives self* There, done! This is a short chapter, but the next ones will not only be longer, but they will be more (action) packed and things will start to make sense (hopefully (j/k)) and even more people will die. What? The amount of people is proportional to the possible amount of confusion, right?  
  
Disclaimer: I only own what doesn't belong to others  
  
-----  
  
Chapter 10: Before the storm breaks  
  
~Written on a gravestone somewhere in England:  
  
Remember man, as you walk by.  
  
As you are now, so once was I~  
  
His drink reached his lips once again. A sip let in some of the strong liquid that burned his throat in its way down. Numerous thoughts ran through his mind in a blur. He tried to concentrate, but more and more thoughts popped out of nowhere.  
  
He didn't hear the noisy talk from the other bar guests. He didn't hear a blue haired girl call his name.  
  
All he could hear was Echo's scream of pain as the first bullet fired by the CG hit her. She knew it would kill her, but why did she jump off the zoomer, alone?  
  
He didn't see the suspicious looking men point at him from their place in the corner of the bar. He didn't see Tia's piercing blue eyes measure him and study him to find out what he was thinking about.  
  
All he saw was the image of Kiz's fried body laying limp on the ground with her head in an odd angle and empty dead eyes staring in his direction.  
  
~As I am now, so shall you be,  
  
Remember this and follow me.~  
  
He just found out that he could die. It wasn't a nice feeling. He just found out that all choices; no matter how small they are has consequences. The thought scared him. If Daxter hadn't hid in the zoomer's trunk he would have been left behind.  
  
He shed a tear and started whimpering as Tia's hand ran over his back to start a sideways hug.  
  
"Hey. You shouldn't be drinking. It doesn't make you feel any better. On the contrary actually.And plus, it gives you a headache in the morning," her soft, calm voice begged him to follow.  
  
"What about you? You lost your sisters, aren't you sad?" He turned to her with accusing eyes  
  
"You're right, I should be the sad one." She looked down at the floor. After a few seconds she sighed and looked up, directly into his eyes. The icyness of her eyes had been replaced with the grey tone of sleet. "Get some sleep, ok? We'll talk in the morning. I... I... You shouldn't be storing this inside. Let's talk in the morning, ok?" He just nodded before following her up to his room.  
  
-----  
  
How could she not know that he was already one of them? He always tested things on his own before engaging others in it. Of course he had informed them about her, why shouldn't he? That would just mean more credit for himself.  
  
He had told them about himself too. She just knew it. The words 'super soldier' must have been mentioned. But why did they want to know stuff about Jak? She had only mentioned him once to Karlos.  
  
Oh yeah, when once is too many.  
  
She didn't like the way the orange haired CG stormed out of the room as soon as she started talking. The information must have been usable. Damn.  
  
She wondered what happened to Jak. A thought crossed her mind, but she quickly send it away. No, that couldn't be. He wasn't.He couldn't just.and without her? They would have told her by now, if it were so.  
  
And she would have cried. If this were a fairy tale the good guy wouldn't die. He would come to the rescue and slay all the bad guys with ease. He would save the day.  
  
If this were a fairy tale, she wouldn't be in love with the bad guy.  
  
Her lowered her head into her hands and sighed. A tear trailed down her chin and over on her one arm and on to the table she was leaning on.  
  
A tear of denial, anger, negotiation, depression and at last.accept  
  
She needed to do one good deed before leaving.  
  
~ Your path is already chosen  
  
There isn't much other to say.  
  
Lay back  
  
Let love be your guide  
  
And let it bear you away~  
  
-----  
  
"But why?" Jak asked her  
  
"She's a proud woman, you know." Then her voice lowered as tears started to form in her eyes "Was." She swallowed and closed her eyes. Images of the past 18 years flew past her mind.  
  
"I guess she really loved her then," Jak stated in a low tune before putting his arms around the small figure that contained the emotionally exposed soul belonging to a girl named Tia.  
  
"Irrationality is what drives us all, you know." She fought to keep her tears back. "It's what's going on inside that keeps us going. It's called hope sometimes." She started staring blankly at the wall in front of her. "That's what makes us living beings, unlike those. monsters the baron lets into the city."  
  
He closed his hug even tighter around her. As her soft whimper was heard a certain quietness fell over his soul.  
  
~Someone wrote the following comment under the poem on the gravestone:  
  
To follow you I'll not consent,  
  
Until I know which way you went.~  
  
-----  
  
Somewhere, someone put his ear on a door and listened.  
  
"He's gonna have the hell of a time getting out of this one" a dark, female voice said.  
  
"I guess you're right. We know what he's capable of thank to those rebel-scientists and their machinery," a man's voice filled the room. He sounded amused. The sound of papers being nuzzled was heard  
  
"When will we be ready?" the woman asked. Silence filled the room  
  
"Soon, have patience, Joelle. You will catch the big fish. We have send out scouts to check his movements," the man's baritone voice boomed, breaking the awkward silence.  
  
"Good." Heavy steps were heard. The doorknob turned and...  
  
Somewhere, someone died for eavesdropping.  
  
-----  
  
Kiz: Tadaa, that was a short chapter, but-  
  
Kaza: But what?  
  
Kiz: Err, whatever. Did my beta-reader do good?  
  
Crowd: *cheers*  
  
Kaza: Sum-up: We have Jak who is still confused about what to do with himself, teh loony Emaly has found out that she needs ta do something good before she dies, and teh CG are getting large amounts of information on Jak and they are soon goin' ta send something after him.Run, Jakkie, run  
  
Jak: Don't call me Jakkie! *Kicks Kaza* Inspire, not annoy  
  
Kiz: +1 for Jak. Wanna do the reviewers responses, hon?  
  
Jak: Sure  
  
AD, I quote Kiz "The force lies within me". It's just another one of the numerous, lame, no content-things she says.  
  
Kiz: Watch it, buddy  
  
Jak:  
  
NN, Wow, I hope you. will kill Kiz for making you as evil as she's planning. Don't buy her 'you're going to be cool' crap. She's a big, fat ("are you saying that I'm FAT!?") liar  
  
Alex, Well, luv. You got the job, but don't expect payment! She hasn't given me a DIME  
  
Kiz: But you can still review *hint hint*  
  
Jak: *sighs*  
  
Tiarne, she has agreed to not call you Ish and to give you a role that might or might not die. Oh, I just feel so. safe around here. 'Today is your lucky day! You didn't die, weee'  
  
Kiz: Now we're at it. I need you to (imaginarily) give me a completely useless item that I can have fun with in the next chapter. Well, you sort of lived on, right? Just write it in the review *nods*  
  
Jak: Hey, ME, not YOU. I do the reviewers responses!  
  
Shark, everybody wants him killed to tell the truth, but he belongs to the girl formerly known as Darksbane and Kiz has been BEGGING her to help write his (painful, please) death scene. Nobody cares if he's already dead, we'll just write an entire fic about how he got tortured to death. *a sadistic smile crosses Jak's lips*  
  
Kiz: So Jak-ling, time's up. No more reviews to respond to.  
  
Jak: ..  
  
Kaza: I havn't said anything yet, but review, please 


	12. Unexpected visitor

And here's the next chapter in my story. MAN I had a hard time writing this: A minor writer's block and being VERY exited about the whole Rome- thing.  
  
Disclaimer: I own noooooothing!  
  
Chapter 11 - Unexpected guest  
  
-----  
  
The sun crawled over the horizon and spread its dim green rays of light over the landscape. Slowly, but surely everything got shrouded in its shadow. The huge city of Haven was already swarming with people. It never slept.  
  
Sig used to tell stories of how beautiful dawn and sunset looked from outside the city limits. Once, Jak told him about how it used to be. He never forgot he envying look on Sig's face.  
  
Jak was lying in his bed and seeing the sunlight fill up the room. He had nothing to do all day. Some ten minutes later he got up. As he dressed he looked down on the busy street beneath him. A group of CG made their way in the crowd. They harshly pushed the people aside and made them obey their orders. But as soon as they had passed, everything was back to normal.  
  
Goggles, belt, knives, handgun, rifle, hoverboard. He ran through his items as he equipped them. Everything was there. Everything was as it should be.  
  
He went down on the street and started walking in no particular direction. He hated this restlessness but he had to do SOMETHING on his hard-earned day off. But as it seems, he just found himself wandering around town all day, doing nothing.  
  
Everything was as it should be. And then again not. Everywhere he went he saw suspicious looks in his direction. 'Paranoia' was all Daxter said about it, so he just shut up about it. He saw groups of CG marching past him without noticing him, but as soon as they had turned the next corner, the marching footsteps halted for a few seconds before marching on.  
  
-----  
  
The suns lazy afternoon beams now only hit the top story of the tall buildings and our two friends' stomachs were getting hungrier by the minute. Daxter started jumping up and down on Jak's shoulder every time they passed a place selling stuff that just as much as resembled to something that might be food.  
  
But Jak kept walking in the direction of the rebel base. Torn was expecting him there by dinnertime.  
  
"Dinner", he mumbled with a hint of sarcasm. The food you got at the base hardly provided enough energy to keep you thinking. Meanwhile Daxter's mind had been inside a nearby diner, eating up everything inside.  
  
"Hey, Jak", Daxter said turning to his buddy  
  
"Ye-es.?" Jak was only getting a wee bit tired of hearing the ottsel complaining about how hungry he was  
  
"Have they ever found out what those figures Tia managed to save meant?" Getting practical, now that's a new one.  
  
"No, but I think she's working on it. It must take a lot of time without that computer they. err. she. Had at their lab." No, it's not your fault. You couldn't do anything about it. Better check up on how she's doing once I get there.  
  
"Hello? Anybody there, there there?" Oh yes, you do annoy me, just slightly at times  
  
"What now," He grumphed. Oh no. I shouldn't have let my bad mood get out in front of Dax. He gets so. aargh, better apologize  
  
"Whoa, ease it up! I just wanted to know how far we had left" Daxter sat back to his usual place on his shoulderplate with a slightly hurt look in his eyes. See? Now, apologize  
  
"Hey, Dax. I didn't mean it that way. I'm not mad at you. Just a little. tense. Lately. That's it" Uh-oh CG, better hide  
  
He quickly turned to the nearest salesman and started discussing prizes. When the CG's had passed he just walked away leaving the salesman yelling insults at him.  
  
"Speaking of apologizing: When do we eat?" When Jak turned to look at his friend he found him staring right back.  
  
"Once we're back at base" He stated. And Daxter hated that statement  
  
"Aww come on, you can't be serious. That isn't even food" A pair of hopeless eyes stared into Jak's.  
  
"Yes, serious. No, not food. Ok then. See that zoomer? Go, and I'll buy you a." Clothes, pots, more pots, guy selling fish, nice.  
  
"Fish"  
  
-----  
  
"Where the hell have you been?" Torn was fuming as always "And NO PETS"  
  
"Hey, relax. It isn't even late" Jak just loved taunting him. And what better than reminding him of that time where Torn said something about not coming home late, but they ended up coming home at 2 o'clock. Two days after. Oh yes, his hair was almost standing by itself now. Ok, Daxter can leave - this time.  
  
"You just had too.eh?" was all that escaped through his lips and in a very, very cold tone.  
  
"Yup, he did", Daxter sounded almost proud.  
  
"Shut up, Dax. So, why'd you call me?" Jak started leaning on Torn's table. Pushing it.  
  
"Important information costs money, you know" He tried ever so 'gently' to push Jak's hand off the table. At a sign from Jak, Daxter left the room - and of course, he made sure to slam the door after him .How does he do that? He isn't even close to weighing the same as the door?  
  
"Oh, how kind of you to pay for me then" Jak withdrew from his position leaning on the table to walking around in the room, looking at things on the walls - always at least half your back at him. Hey, it's TORN. I have to let out my bad mood on SOMEONE!  
  
"The CG's after you, kid" uh-oh. Jak's eyes suddenly widened. Holy, fucking. No NO, don't turn around. Aaaargh, I told you not to!  
  
"Like I didn't know" The CG was always after the rebels, but when said like this, it was serious. Crossed arms, look him directly into the eyes and now. do something else.  
  
"No shit" Gawd, how big an arse are you? Wipe off that smile right now!  
  
"How long have you known?" always make him think he has the better deal, Torn's words echoes in his mind. Oh fuck you Torn, always so bloody holy are ya  
  
"Hmm, some time. Just be careful. You don't want to drag them near the base" Getting all teachy are we?  
  
"Ok, where is he?" Upper hand, upper hand..?  
  
"He, who?" *mentally highfives self* bingo. Hand on desk and you're rollin' boi!  
  
"The guy you caught following me back here" Two points for Jak. Torn sighed and pointed towards the door  
  
"Cell 5. You can see him, but not talk with him. One of the new guys is trying out some new torture. Don't ask, she knows what she's doing" Yeah yeah, sure. Who is she, your cousin? Since she gets treated that well.  
  
Jak stepped out of Torns 'office' with a satisfied smile. Being mean to Torn always lifted his mood. Such a nice feeling.  
  
"Fish, now" Daxter was leaning agains ste wall and his eyes were getting rather desperate after not having eaten all day. Dry statement equals quick decisions.  
  
"Ok, ok. Go fry it, I gotta run an errand. Be right with you" He then tossed the smelly newspaper wrapping over to the awaiting ottsel, who gladly embraced the stinking item and ran off in a hurry. Jak on the other hand ran to the cellblock. Well you couldn't really call it a block, it was just a bunch of 'offices' turned into 'isolating' cells.  
  
Just as he thought: an ordinary CG. But how much did they know about him?  
  
"Too much already" He spun to see a red-haired girl looking into the cell with him "He said something about some test results, 'they just handed us the information', he said" Her voice was deep, calm and a little sad. Her hair was short and barely long enough to make that ponytail she had. "You're common knowledge by now, better keep an eye out in the future". She was only a bit older than him, but seemed to be wise from years of experience.  
  
"What's your name?" Jak looked into her light grey eyes. Rare colour.  
  
"Diama. Now, Jak start training. You'll need it, very much actually. I'll come down to the training hall in an hour to see how you're doing" She looked at her watch. A red pointer was close to the 12-o'clock position.  
  
"Ok, then. Mind finding Tia and tell her to look after Daxter meanwhile?" Training would be a good idea. It helped you clear your mind and gather your thoughts  
  
"Sure, and I'll ask her to find some food for you too" Her was already walking down the hallway when the response came. Was he really common knowledge or did she just know too much about him?  
  
-----  
  
"You're better than I thought" Diama had managed to sneak in through the huge, creaking door without a sound. "Train at least 3 hours a day and you'll be making major progress. Pay special attention to your agility" She sat down near one of the walls  
  
"How? How? You know too much about me. How?" Jak stopped in the middle of an exercise with some weights and walked over to her.  
  
"Common knowledge I said. You don't have to be especially attentive to find out what I know" He found out that he was still holding the weights when his muscles started aching after some time. He let them drop to the floor with a bump.  
  
"So, if I'm not mistaking anything, everybody - each and every person I se on the street knows about me" He started walking around in circles. This was not good  
  
"Worried. Ok, it isn't as bad as you think. It's just the CG and. me, but you have to be VERY careful from now on, understood?" He turned around and met her light grey eyes that before were mild. But now, her pupils looked like pieces of stone melted to glass in a volcano rock. The blankest black in an uneven light grey shade. Her face showed no feelings and her eyes just bade him listen.  
  
"Ok, then. I will. I. I." Thoughts swirled in his mind, unabeling him to concentrate. He was looking down at the ground. Fix-point and then you start thinking, ok?  
  
"Take a bath. You need it. Tia has some food for you at your room" He looked up and saw a small hand close the huge, normally creaking door. How could she be so darn fast?  
  
"Thanks" He mumbled.  
  
-----  
  
"You should eat something" Tia was desperately trying to keep Daxter away from the food. Jak just sat on the bed and played with his goggles that he had just taken off.  
  
"I'm not hungry" Millions of questions flew through his mind. Mostly how's and when's.  
  
"Yes you are. I'm not leaving until you started on it." She sat down next to him on the bed and held up the dish near his face. "Besides, you can't concentrate if you haven't eaten"  
  
"Ok, ok. I'll eat" With a fork he swiftly scooped his part of the fish (small due to hungry ottsel) and some rice-mix into his mouth and began chewing. Then, he made a 'see?' motion towards the blue-haired girl  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I brought you some fresh clothes you can wear while I wash your regular clothes. And get a bath. It calms you down. You could need it." He couldn't even answer her because of the food stuffed in his mouth, just obey. Smart move, Tia, one point for that.  
  
He walked into the bathroom connected to the room. He won this room in a bet with Torn. He chuckled at the thought. He could still see Torn's face when he had lost. Seeing him lose was almost worth the effort. Almost, well any sane person wouldn't do 500 pushups just for the 'fun' of it. He slowly untied his belt and let it drop to the floor. Then he loosened the straps holding various items and clothing parts in place. The metal of the buckles hit the floor with a ringing sound that stayed in the room for some time. He could slowly feel the weight retreat from on his body as his leather jacket came off and his bare feet felt the cold tile floor. He took off his undershirt and let it fall on top of the formed pile of clothes.  
  
"Why aren't you in bath yet? Or are you just having some weird unclothing ritual you need to perform first?" Tia had (obviously) walked in on him. Luckily he was still wearing his trousers, but his scarred, strong torso was showing.  
  
"Whatever, now turn around so I can hop in the shower." And so they did. Before leaving, Tia left the new clothes on a chair, so they wouldn't get wet. Even though Jak had the luxury of a bathroom, it didn't necessarily mean that it was working perfectly. A shower, a sink, a toilet and a piece of what used to be a mirror - all in decay since it had been build some 20 years ago.  
  
As the cold water hit his body the thoughts were stopped for a minute. A shiver went down his spine before he got used to the temperature and started enjoying the feeling of getting cleaner. A bar of soap was also to be found in Jak's exclusive bathroom.  
  
Status: The CG were after him, and they knew a lot about him. They followed him around on the streets and they had the sisters' test results. He was in trouble, deeeeeep trouble.  
  
Solution: What do I know? If one person's after you, you can just kill him, but this. you can't kill the entire CG. And with the CG is probably  
  
Fuck  
  
The baron. What does he want me for now? Why is everybody after me now?  
  
"Oh, Ja-ak" Even the little rodent can't leave me alone for 5 fucking minutes!  
  
"What now!?" He turned off the water and took a towel that was lying on top of his new pile of clothes.  
  
"Company" Daxter chimed. And he hated when Daxter chimed. It meant trouble. Jak quickly dried himself and found the trousers Tia had given him. They were sand coloured and long, in a strong fabric. As he took them on a little note fell on the floor. He picked it up  
  
~Dear Jak. The clothes you got are something Echo made. They should be able to resist any kind of use. Though, they haven't been tested yet. I hope it fits. -Tia~  
  
The note was slightly crumbled, either by rain or. a tear. Poor Tia. She had lost everything. The mere mentioning of either of her sisters made her cry.  
  
"Anybody home? You got a visitor" Daxter poked his head into the bathroom to make him hurry up. "And get dressed will ya? They." daxter pointed with a circling finger on his trousers "don't cover that" His chest, yeah, yeah  
  
Pulling on a t-shirt from the pile, Jak walked out of the bathroom. On a chair with a very red, embarrassed face was sitting  
  
"Emaly, what are you doing here?"  
  
-----  
  
Tadaaa, I'm ba-ack! Remember me? Ok , this chap was a long time under way (and a little crappy IMO), but here it is! Like it? And what's going to happen next? Gee, I don't know, or do I?  
  
Some time ago I proposed a deadline for RB, Darksbane and I, but err. Hey, I'm not perfect you know! And the other two had a head start. Yeah, they had.  
  
In short: I won't be making it till the deadline, sorries, but it's the sad fact. Nonetheless, I know how I want to end my story, I just need to write it down - that's what's killing me  
  
Writing it down: Die B*tch *kills kiz*  
  
Kaza: Cut the lame jokes, Kiz *revives her*  
  
Kiz: Thanks pal, but you know what? Just as I finish this chapter, I'm going out to buy the game, woohoo  
  
Kaza: Shut up and let's get this thing over with:  
  
Alex: Sorry, no beta this time, lack of time you know. And while we're at it, you're allowed to e-mail me too (and that's for the rest of you too)  
  
Nobinoir: Aww thanks. You're not exactly present in this chapter, but more is coming up and maybe a climax approaching? Dun dund udn dunnnnn  
  
Shark: Yes it is. And thx for the review  
  
AD: Thx for the review  
  
Lisa1124: Yes, yes, you're not the only one who has asked for that, you know. But now she's in his room. (I'm evil, I know - no one knows what will happen until next chapter, hehe)  
  
Lady Tsuru: Thank you, and here's more for ya from the little busy bee (and yes, I have been seeing 'Gladiator' since last time.  
  
Kaza: That's all folks  
  
Kiz: Reviews done in 5 mins, personal record  
  
Kaza -_- You're silly  
  
Kiz: Don't forget to review ;) 


End file.
